Savior
by Itachilova101
Summary: To get away from Sasuke for fear of falling in love with him again, she accepts an indefinite mission at the border of Fire Country. When Orochimaru attacks, she's rescued by a very unlikely savior. ItaSakuSasu
1. Bringing Home Sasuke

A/N: Well, a Naruto story that actually has more than one chapter! Haven't seen that in a while now, have you? Maybe now, since I'm writing a story under the pairing that everybody knows me for, I'll actually start getting some reviews... n.n; Yeah, sorry, but I was watching a lot of anime and I felt compelled to write some fanfictions for them, that's why I was kind of straying from the path of righteousness (ItaSaku) for the past little while. Forgive me? Yes? Good!

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this one! XD

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"Haruno," the name rolled off of Sasuke's tongue like a curse, his eyes cold and lifeless (as usual), promising pain to any who got too close. His mouth was set into a grim line and his face, always known to be quite pale, was ashen. He was clearly not well.

Well, that was sort of to be expected when one was bleeding to death, Sakura figured dryly. The slice to his abdomen had been deep and it was quite clear that he'd already lost a lot of blood. His bare chest was covered in both fresh and dried, caked-on blood and the tattered remains of his shirt that was hanging uselessly from his waist was drenched in the red liquid that was the man's life.

It was a sickening sight to behold… and Sakura had to watch it and know that she had been the one to cause such a sight.

"Uchiha," she finally replied, rather surprised by the strength in her own voice. She was quivering inside, though she seemed to be doing quite well in hiding it.

"I…" he began breathlessly, wriggling on his back in a feeble attempt to get up, just as the sounds of footsteps appeared and then hastened onto the scene. "I…"

"You…?" she asked sardonically, her nose wrinkling at the man's pitiful attempts to get back to his feet. Was this all the great Uchiha Sasuke, the man who vowed to slaughter Uchiha Itachi and resurrect the infamous Uchiha clan, had? Was this really all the fight he possessed? And she had actually told him she loved him! Hah! What a joke.

"I… hate… you," he managed to croak out as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body went limp. Sakura smirked and, once again, the word pitiful popped into her head.

"Haruno," Shikamaru barked, rushing to join her so that he could look down at the pitiful sight that was Sasuke's dying. "You were supposed to keep him alive! Now how are we supposed to interrogate him?"

"Calm down, Boss," Sakura replied as a means of placating the obviously perturbed squad leader, "He's not dead… yet. He's just being dramatic. I can close that wound, give him a little blood transfusion and he'd be fine by morning."

"In case you haven't noticed," Shikamaru growled, "We're in the middle of a forest, do you see any blood banks around here?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do," she answered, smirking at the man meaningfully. "What blood type do you have, Nara?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened as the realization of what she had just implied dawned on him. "No way!" he exclaimed in protest, folding his arms over his chest in protest, "Nuh-uh, no way, no how! You are not taking my blood and putting it in him!"

Sakura simply reached for her rucksack, which she had placed on the ground earlier, and dug out her medical equipment. She opened it, took out a syringe connected by a long plastic tube to an empty blood bag and a long piece of latex. "Correct me if I'm wrong, which I don't believe I am, but I do believe that you and Sasuke share the same blood type. I'm sure a genius such as you could see the logic of giving up a little blood?"

"He's going to need more than a little blood," the male corrected, "And you know that."

"You know, I could always give up some blood," Naruto volunteered, quite willing to do whatever he needed to do to keep his "best friend" alive. "It's no problem at all and I would be happy to help."

"I know you would, Naruto, but Sasuke's blood type is AB and yours is B-. Your blood isn't compatible." Sakura sighed and turned to the other two people in her squad. "Hyuuga, do you think you could carry Nara after he's done _generously_ donating a couple pints of blood? We don't want him collapsing."

"I don't see why not," Neji answered with a solemn nod.

"Naruto, if you want to help, can you carry Sasuke?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess so."

"Alright," Sakura smiled at Shikamaru and sat down, patting the grass beside her. "Please, have a seat. I'm going to quickly stitch up Sasuke's wound and then we'll take the blood."

With a martyred expression on his face, Shikamaru sighed and sat down on the damp grass and waited for Sakura to suture the wound on the Uchiha's belly, using the grace and accuracy of the professional that she most certainly was. Then, she turned to him and picked up the needle and latex.

"Arm out, please," she said sweetly and, when the squad leader didn't immediately do as he was told, she grabbed his arm and held it out so that she could tie on the latex. She tapped the skin below the latex until a good enough vein appeared and she rubbed on some disinfectant then finally stuck him with the needle.

Shikamaru didn't even flinch or stiffen as he was stabbed with the metal needle, but Sakura hadn't noticed, she was much too busy watching the blood steadily flow into the clear bag. Then, once the bag was full, she pinched the tube connecting the syringe and the bag and swapped the full bag for the empty one and allowed the blood to flow once again.

After, she took the needle out of Shikamaru's arm and snapped it in half before throwing it onto the ground. She took out another needle and another tube and fastened it to one of the blood bags. "There," she said at last, moving back to Sasuke to give him his first transfusion. "This should give him the blood he needs until his body starts generating its own." After she stabbed him with the needle, she placed the bag on his chest and gestured for Naruto to lift up the unconscious man.

"Okay," Naruto said, crouching down, taking Sasuke's limp body into his arms and picking him up, "Upsie Daisy, big guy." He was in a particularly good mood, apparently pleased that they'd finally captured Sasuke, once and for all.

Sakura took the blood bag from his chest and instructed Naruto to hold it clamped between his teeth so that all the blood could get through. She then turned to a swaying, pale Shikamaru and set to work on him. She took out a few food pills and some water and gave them to him. "Take those and Neji will carry you."

Shikamaru didn't hesitate to take the pills and the water and didn't object when Neji picked him up princess-style. He even went so far to rest his head on the elder man's chest and close his eyes against what Sakura assumed would be pretty bad dizziness.

"Alright, team," Sakura said, taking over the role as team leader while Shikamaru was out of commission, slapping away some imaginary dust from the palms of her hands, "I guess now we can all go home. Good job, everybody."

Nobody replied, only ran out of the clearing and jumped into the trees to start their journey home.

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A/N: Okay, I know that Sakura seems really cold-hearted and cool, but that's going to change. Why is she all cold-hearted and cool? Well, because her brain is in denial that Sasuke is actually coming back.

I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to see some reviews!


	2. Accepting Sasuke

A/N: Well, I replaced the chapter because, when I reread chapter two, I didn't much like it. Well, I liked it, but, when I thought about it and read the reviews (thanks, by the way! *kissus*), I realized that it was much too soon for it. You'll definitely be seeing some of that chapter later on, but, for now, enjoy this remade chappy! n.n

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The mission had been a success: Sasuke had been found and captured; he would live; he would (eventually) recover and then would be up for sentencing. But, with the memory of Sasuke's face in her mind, the pain in all of her joints and the exhaustion that was weighing her down, Sakura found no success. She found only weary resignation and reluctant acceptance of Sasuke's reappearance in her life and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about seeing him once again.

"Hey, Sakura-san!" Ritsu called as Sakura all but dragged herself through the village toward her apartment for a much-needed shower and some even more-needed sleep, "Sakura-san? Can you hear me?"

Sakura turned to Ritsu with weary impatience and asked, "What is it, Ritsu?"

Said male chuunin reared back as though a snake had just lunged at him and exclaimed, "Whoa, Sakura-san, you look horrible!"

"Mm," she grunted.

"D-Do I even want to know what happened to you during the mission?" he asked timidly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Do I want to know how the mission _went_?"

"No and it was a success," she answered tiredly, "Naruto and Neji are taking Sasuke and Shikamaru to the infirmary and then they're going to see Tsunade to confirm the success of the mission. I'm going home."

"Uh... okay," Ritsu murmured, "Good to see you back and... alive?"

"Mm," she grunted again, turning around and once again starting toward her home. She was exhausted, covered in caked-on blood that didn't only belong to herself, she felt dirty and grimy, her feet hurt and she just wanted to lay down for the next twenty or thirty hours and sleep. "Later, Ritsu."

"See you, Sakura," Ritsu hollered after her and she turned the corner, walking down the street that her apartment sat on.

She walked into her home, kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag on the floor and headed toward the bathroom, peeling off her most likely unsalvageable clothes on the way down the hall. By the time she was in the bathroom with the door closed, she was completely nude, her pale skin stained with blood that she couldn't wait to get off.

She turned on the water, not bothering to feel how hot or cold it was before stepping in so that the water burned her skin. She didn't care. She just stood under the spray and watched the dried blood melt away with the water and wash down the drain. She wasn't completely sure whether it was the sight of the blood or just her exhaustion, but she was filled with a deep sadness as she watched the water turn redder and redder as she rid herself of the horrible, crusted substance.

Tears stung her eyes and her jaw quivered, but she refused to cry. She was so tired, she was in pain, and she wasn't going to allow her sorry state to control her mood. She quickly washed up and left the bathroom, but, when she did, she realized that she had scrubbed her skin raw, the water had burned her skin till it was red and the cool air was painful.

She sighed and walked into her bedroom, still completely in the nude and changed into an overlarge T-shirt Kakashi had lent her on a mission and she hadn't bothered to return. She fell into bed, hissed at how the feel of the fabric irritated her sensitive skin, but crawled under the covers anyway.

She was asleep within moments.

* * *

She awoke to the sound of her phone ringing, but she didn't bother to get out of bed to answer it. She had found the right position in which to lay without it hurting her abused skin and she didn't dare move for fear of losing that comfort.

"Shut up," she growled to the incessant ringing, but, as she had expected, it didn't stop.

Then, it went to voice mail and Tsunade's grim voice echoed throughout the empty apartment. "Sakura? Are you there, Sakura? Hm, well, I had thought you would have come with the others to confirm that your mission was a success, but I suppose you were tired. I'm just calling to say congratulations on the success of your mission and I would like to know if—"

"Tsunade-shishou?" she called when she picked up the phone, "Sorry, I was asleep."

"It's alright," the Hokage answered, "I'd just like to know if you would be willing to continue the mission even further."

"Even... further?" she asked with some confusion, "How can I take the mission any further?"

"I need a talented medic to heal the wounds you gave him during your fight," Tsunade told her dryly, "He's lost a lot of blood and, although your transfusion did keep him alive during the trip back here, he's still too weak to start generating his own blood and his wound apparently reopened while Naruto was holding him. He's in serious need of help."

"He's dying?" she asked with a small satisfied smile. _Good,_ she thought wryly. _The bastard deserves it. _

"Yes, he's dying and quickly. Shizune did what she could to close the wound, but she's got so many patients that she doesn't have the time to take him on permanently, I am absolutely buried in paperwork and I don't quite trust the other medic-nin to do as good of a job as I know you will."

"Well..." _Well, I'd much rather Sasuke die, but... _"Okay."

"Thanks, Sakura, if you could head over to the infirmary as soon as you can, you know I'd appreciate it."

Sakura hung up after agreeing and changed out of the T-shirt and into her uniform. After quickly running a comb through her hair, she drew in a deep breath and left her apartment to go to the infirmary, thinking, _You should feel lucky, Sasuke, if I hadn't been on a mission that called for me to bring you back alive, I wouldn't have brought you back at all and you'd be dead. But now you're going to live... for awhile, anyway._

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A/N: Ooh, I like the sound of that: "for awhile, anyway". Foreshadowing or just wishful thinking? I'll never tell... X3


	3. A New Mission

A/N: Chapter 3! Yay, that means that it's officially a multi-chapter story and I can quit! Naw, I'm just yanking your chain, my lovelies, I really like the idea for this story so of course I'm going to continue it!

Okay, so I was going over the timeline for this story in my head and it looks like this story is going to be pretty long. The way I see it, it'll be divided into three arcs that follow one right after the other and it looks like we're still at the beginning of that first arc, so it may get to be pretty long.

Hope you guys don't mind! n.n;

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The depression Sakura had felt earlier that day had returned tenfold and she didn't bother to try and disillusion herself this time. She knew that it was Sasuke causing this heavy feeling within her and she knew that it would be futile to try and deny it.

_Sasuke... you've become a man. _These were the thoughts running through her mind as she healed up the gruesome-looking wound on his belly.

She hadn't had time to notice while she was fighting him to keep him there until the rest of the team met up with her, but now that she really looked at him through the corner of her eye, she noticed that he had become a man while he was gone. If there had been any hint of childhood in his features back in the days of the Rookie 9, those hints had run for the hills screaming bloody murder by now. His hair was longer, but still had his usual center-part bangs and the spiked-up back. Although the pain he was feeling was quite minimal, his face was still tense and there was a slight crease in his forehead thanks to the furrow of his brow. Still, it didn't obstruct from any of his beauty.

She wondered if she would fall for him all over again, but then shook her head, dismissing that thought. Of course she wasn't going to and, if there was even the slightest chance, she didn't have to worry about it because the odds of him being able to live after the sentencing were definitely not in his favour.

But, then again, Naruto did have Tsunade wrapped around his little finger. Most people had started to wonder if the woman was going senile at her ripe age of sixty-something years old, especially since she had started accidentally slipping up, calling Naruto "Nowaki". Perhaps if Naruto begged and pleaded hard enough (and he would), she would let Sasuke live in Konoha again?

The idea scared Sakura. For the longest time, she had longed to be wherever Sasuke was until she had woken one morning and decided that she needed to grow up. Now, ever since that day, she had wanted nothing more than to never see him again. But now that she couldn't take her eyes off of him, she found her heart ripping apart with a need she hadn't experienced in a long time.

She really was going to fall in love with him again, wasn't she? No... she wasn't going to allow that to happen.

She had to get away. She had to go somewhere far away from Sasuke, where she could cover herself in her protective cocoon and forget that Sasuke had ever existed. She had to or she would end up falling for him all over again.

Ending the flow of chakra that was currently closing the large cut across Sasuke's belly; she reluctantly pulled her hand back and stepped away. She tried to take her eyes away from his still-quite-pale face, but she couldn't and so she turned away and rushed out of the room.

"Haruno-san?" one of the medics that had been told to wait outside the room to assist Sakura in any way she felt necessary called out to her, but she didn't stop, only ran even faster.

She tried to take a deep breath in, but it came as a gasp and tears welled in her eyes. Yes, she had to get out. She had to leave. She needed to get as far away as she could. She needed... a mission. A long mission; B-ranked or higher would do nicely. So, she took a left turn into a different hallway and made her way toward Tsunade's office. She barged into the room without bothering to knock and caught Tsunade in the process of working on a Scratch-and-Win lottery ticket. Surprised by the intrusion, Tsunade jumped and looked up at her student in shock.

"Sakura," she said, "What's going on? Have you already finished healing Sasuke?" When she noticed the look on Sakura's face, however, she asked, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, swiping the tears from her cheeks. "No... no, not yet. I-I need a new mission, a long one, the longest one you have."

The blond sighed with a shake of her head and said, "I had a feeling this would happen. That's why I was going to have you summoned in a couple hours so that we could discuss this subject, but, since you're here now, I guess we can do it now."

Sakura silently sat down in one of the chairs and waited for her shishou to begin.

"I don't very much like the idea of you being in the village before Sasuke's hearing and I can see that you feel the same way," the Hokage said grimly, "He hurt you badly and, when you got over him, we had all hoped that that would be the end of it, but then this mission popped up. Fortunately, a mission that would suit your needs has come up and I'm going to need you out of the village by tomorrow morning."

Sakura smiled with relief and nodded. "I can do that. Where am I going?"

"To the Fire Country border. Now that Sasuke is back in Konoha, the village has become frightened that either Orochimaru or the Akatsuki might try to infiltrate the village in search of him and, of course, these fears are justified. That's why we're cracking down on security around the country and the village's border just to be on the safe side."

The kunoichi nodded in understanding. "Alright."

Tsunade nodded, taking a scroll from her desk drawer and placing it on the desk in front of Sakura. "That's a map to the site that I'd like you to go to. Of course, we'll inform you of the conclusion of the hearing and that will determine how long you should have to remain there."

"Sounds pretty straight forward."

"And I don't think I should have to tell you to take care of yourself while you're out there?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope, I learned from the best."

"Alright then, I'll have another medic continue the remainder of Sasuke's treatment so that you can prepare for the mission. Good luck and be sure to contact us when you arrive and every-so-often afterward to keep us up-to-date. Any questions, concerns or additions that you'd like to make before I dismiss you?"

"No, I'm just glad to be getting away from Sasuke even for a little while."

"Alright, then you're dismissed. Good luck."

"Thanks." With that, Sakura took the scroll and left Tsunade's office, headed toward her apartment so that she could prepare for the mission that had been so graciously given to her. She smiled, feeling as though a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she walked all the way home.

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A/N: Sakura has been liberated from the evil jerk-dude king that is an Uchiha! ... But not for long! *maniacal laughter* *chokes* Furball... n.n;


	4. Bye Bye Sasuke!

A/N: Well, here I am, listening to Vanilla by Gackt, writing, trying to find the meaning of life... but, since I can't seem to find that, I might as well just update the story!

Enjoy, my lovelies!

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The next morning, Sakura awoke with the sun and hastily prepared to leave, making sure to wear clothes that would be suitable for a lot of traveling through dense forest. She put on a black skort that went down to the middle of her thighs, a black tank top that fitted to her body like a second skin, her knee-high, open-toed boots, a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows and then put on her weapons' pouches. Then, after shouldering her rucksack, she was ready to go.

She took one last look at her apartment, memorizing every detail before she left it for an undetermined amount of time. She would miss her home, but she simply told herself that she would return to it eventually and then took her leave. She waved to the few people that were taking a stroll through the village streets at this early hour as she made her way toward the border, and then she made it to the only pathway leading out of the village.

She stared at the bench where Sasuke had left her all those years ago and thought back on how that one moment had changed everything. She and Sasuke had only spoken for five minutes, it had taken him seconds to knock her out and lay her on the bench, but here she was, seven years later, still affected by it.

She shook the thoughts from her mind and carried on; taking the road that Sasuke had taken all those years ago, and said a quick goodbye to Ritsu who had been on border patrol at the time.

That was when the first moments of the rest of her life had begun. She hadn't known it at the time, but, from the moment she had walked through the village border, her life would never be the same ever again. To this day, she was sure that it had been Sasuke's reappearance that had caused all of the events that followed this day, but she was never entirely sure whether she should blame him or thank him.

* * *

Sakura breathed in the fresh air, humid from the rain that had fallen over the night, enjoying the sweet scent of the fresh dew on the grass as she traveled through the forest. It was a beautiful morning and she was sure that it was to be a beautiful day, also.

She hopped onto a branch and began to jump from tree to tree, enjoying the sense of liberation that seemed to grow larger and larger as she drew further and further away from Sasuke. She was free from looking into his face and finding all of those hurtful memories in his pallid complexion and his hateful expressions; she was free from remembering all of those angry words said from hate whenever she heard his voice; she was free from remembering that horrible night all those years ago whenever she looked at him. She was free.

She ran in the direction of the slowly rising sun and savoured the beautiful sight that she could only enjoy knowing that she was free and that she wouldn't have to watch it from Sasuke's hospital room while she healed him.

But, as time went on, Sakura's optimism quickly evaporated as she drew closer to the Fire Country border.

She could see the damage that rogue shinobi had made now that she was away from civilization and it was not pretty. The grass was black, charred from so many Fire-style jutsu used in innumerable pointless battles, trees were damaged or had been destroyed, and there were many places where fresh blood coated the ground.

It all made her wonder if this was worth it. Had she known what she was getting herself into when she had accepted this mission? Well, it wasn't like it mattered now. She was almost at her post and Sasuke was now far from her mind. Her brain was locked in Mission-mode and she was now thinking of nothing but protecting her village from any threat.

She looked up at the sun, which was now directly overhead and wondered if she dared stop to eat her lunch in such a dangerous place. She was hungry, but did she want to risk getting herself into trouble with a missing-nin? She sighed and set down her bag, took out her bentou, put her bag back on her shoulders and began to walk and eat at the same time.

She would be at her post quite soon; she could afford to keep a slow pace for a little while. She ate quickly and tossed the box aside, not bothering with putting it back in her bag. She went back to running to get the hell out of that area; the blood spattered on the ground was really beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.

So, she carried on, heading further and further away from Sasuke and moving closer and closer to a fate that she couldn't even begin to imagine, but she knew that she would quite soon learn what was in store for her. She just hoped that, whatever future lay in waiting, it had been worth leaving her home to look for.

She rolled her eyes. Seriously, anything would be better than having to stick around with an angry, overly-vengeful Uchiha who has a huge bone to pick with everybody around him. She would rather have tea with the Akatsuki rather than risk falling into another one of Sasuke's little traps.

With a sigh, she dismissed that thought, telling herself that she was being ridiculous, and grabbed the map from her bag. She unrolled the scroll and then looked around her. She found the seventh landmark, an old stone statue standing before some sort of grave, and she crossed it out on the map. She was getting really close.

Then, just as she was pocketing the map once again, she felt a new presence and she froze, her hand hovering just over one of her weapons' pouches. She stood rigid, waiting for any hint that told her to prepare for a fight, but heard nothing. Then, she heard a deep voice from behind her and a shiver of recognition ran up her spine.

"Relax, kunoichi," the cool voice commanded, smooth as honey, "You need not fear any threat I may possess. I didn't come here to harm you or any of your allies."

She turned and, although she had been expecting no other, she drew in a ragged breath at the sight of the man standing before her. "U-Uchiha... Itachi?"

* * *

A/N: That seems like a good point at which to stop. *snicker* I'm so mean! XD See how I sneaked some Japanese in there? I'm so smart! X3 No, not really, everybody knows what bentou means...

And, FYI, I did mean the whole "tea with the Akatsuki bit" to be a little bit of harmless irony for good ol' Sakura. Well... kind of harmless... I mean, she doesn't _die_ or anything does she? Only I can decide that? Oh, right, because I'm the authoress! Right... n.n;

You know, I really should write a yaoi fic after this is done... I seem to be quite obsessed with it at the moment. I'll probably put up a poll on my profile asking if people would like that or not, because it is, after all, my fans that keep me writing! X3


	5. An Unexpected Acquaintance

A/N: Well... chapter five and we still haven't gotten through the first arc! This is the shortest arc, I'm pretty sure... or maybe the second arc is the shortest... not sure. Either way, the first arc isn't going to be anywhere near as long as the third, so, like I said, it may be a pretty long story. It might just be my longest. O.O Cool...

But, unfortunately, I don't know if I'm going to be updating. You see, I haven't been getting very many reviews and I'd much rather do a story that I know people like and whatnot. So, if you want to see more of this story, please review! Please?

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"Uchiha... Itachi," she murmured with a mixture of awe and fear. She wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to do, standing in the presence of such power. He had told her to not be afraid, but it was hard to not be afraid with those blood red Sharingan eyes of his staring directly into her own jade orbs. What if he had only said what he had so he could lure her into a false sense of security and then move in for the kill? "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly, "What business do you have in Fire Country?"

"That is none of your concern," he told her, his voice emotionless and flat. "I've merely come here to warn you that we will be in the area for the next while, but that we will not intrude upon your territory or get in your way while we're here."

"Are you sure you want to be telling me this?" she asked, quirking a brow, "What if we went looking for you to take advantage of the situation?" She wasn't teasing him, she was genuinely curious as to the motives behind his seemingly honest intentions. This man was acting completely different than she would have expected of Uchiha Itachi. She had always thought that if she were to meet the rogue Uchiha, they would have been thrust immediately into a battle-to-the-death, but she could see no violent intent in either his eyes or the way he held himself. He simply wanted to talk.

"You won't," he said confidently, his voice that same unemotional, carelessly casual drawl.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because," he answered with the softest of chuckles, the corners of his lips twitching up in an almost-unnoticeable smirk, "I have a feeling that you have bigger to fish to fry right now, fish that don't include the Akatsuki. Especially now that Sasuke is back in your grasp once again."

The sound of Sasuke's name being carelessly thrown from this man's—_this_ man's—lips made her wince and a deep hatred welled inside her for the man that had caused Sasuke so much suffering. She shook her head, though, dismissing those feelings, and asked, "How did you find out about that?"

"I am the one speaking, kunoichi," he told her, showing no signs of impatience, before carrying on, "All that I have to say is that in these particular instances, we have the same goals and I see no reason why we can't work together to reach our common goal."

"We don't need a terrorist's help," she growled, that resentment beginning to simmer.

He shrugged. "That's debatable," he replied, "But we will stay whether you need us or not and we will stay out of your way, just as I told you."

"But... why?"

"Must I repeat things I've already told you?" he asked, once again showing no sign of impatience, it was just a question. "You and I both want the same thing at the moment and the Akatsuki wants to be certain that it gets done."

"You mean... to get rid of Orochimaru?"

He neither agreed nor denied her question, only said, "Now I best be off. Tell nobody about my appearance or I will not hesitate to kill you." And, with that, he turned and jumped into the trees, disappearing just as quickly as he had appeared, leaving Sakura confused, worried and frustrated all at the same time.

Who did he think he was, being so mysterious and arrogant? Sure, he was strong, deadly and he practically pissed awesomeness, but that didn't mean that he could be such a self-important bastard! Who the hell did he think he was?! That man was worse than Sasuke! She continued to fume over this as she stormed through the forest, intent on getting to her post and burying her frustrations in her work.

Oh, yeah, kicking the pedophilia puss out of Orochimaru's ass would definitely help her lose some steam! So, she hurried up, making sure to get to her post as quickly as possible, wasting no time at all. Not long after that, she had managed to make it to her destination, panting, sweating and tired, but alive and still frustrated as hell.

"Ah, you must be the newbie," a man commented with a warm smile when he saw her, "Come on, let's get you to somewhere that you can sit down and have a drink. You must be exhausted, you made it here faster than I'd expected."

She shrugged and let him take her arm, leading her to the Canteen, sitting her down in a chair with a bottle of water. "Thanks," she murmured, surprised by the unexpected hospitality. She had kind of figured that the place would be... well... war-struck; that everybody would be grim and angry and bitter... but not hospitable and cheerful! This place was just plain weird.

"After you've rested your feet, I'll have one of the women show you to your barracks so that you can settle yourself in."

"O-Okay," she murmured, sipping on her water.

Well, on the bright side, her confusion had made her forget about Itachi for the moment.

* * *

A/N: For the moment! But not forever! Poor, poor Saku-chan, stuck with such a pretty man in her thoughts. I can relate... n.n"

Sorry about ruining the tense mood between Itachi and Sakura with the whole 'pissing awesomeness' bit, but I couldn't resist and I know all of you couldn't resist reading it! Come on, you know it to be true just as much as I do! ;D

Also, I'm terribly sorry about the shortness of the chapters, but I am going to try really hard to make them longer. I'm just used to writing short capters, it's what I've always done.


	6. A Secret Conversation

A/N: Okie dokie... First off, I want to thank you all for the _wonderful_ reviews! I'm so warm and fuzzy right now I could be a bunny! X3 Second off, here's the second chapter... short, but better than nothing... I hope. T.T

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* * *

_

"You and I both want the same thing at the moment and the Akatsuki wants to be certain that it gets done... I see no reason why we can't work together to reach our common goal."

Uchiha Itachi's words kept running through Sakura's mind as she relaxed in her new bed that night, her confusion becoming more and more intense as his words repeated over and over. What had he meant? Was he after Orochimaru, too? If so, why was he waiting until the leader of Sound attacked Fire Country (_if_ he attacked Fire Country)? Why didn't he just go after Orochimaru himself? Wait... was he depending on Orochimaru's coming to Fire Country to nab him?

It made sense. Why else would he be hanging out? Why else would he want her cooperation? Was it possible that he had no other choice than to rely on her? She hated to admit it (but not really), but the idea of Itachi having to rely on her for assistance made her feel really good. She couldn't help but chuckle with satisfaction. No wonder why he'd acted so haughty, he had already been feeling inadequate for needing her help.

Ah, sweet, sweet irony; the taste was almost too sweet to bear. Well, okay, not really, she had a feeling she would have no problem digesting _this_ particular irony. Oh, how she could gloat!In fact, she would gloat as soon as she saw him again.

"You seem very happy with yourself," a voice appeared through the darkness, startling her out of her reverie.

She gasped and sat up, pulling her blanket up to hide her bra-clad chest, looking around for the owner of the voice, but only finding two red dots shining through the blackness. Unfortunately, those two red dots didn't comfort her. "Itachi-san? Is that you?" she called tentatively and watched as those red dots blinked out, then reappeared.

"Indeed," he answered softly, "I apologize. I had promised to stay away from your territory, but there are some things we need to discuss."

"And they couldn't wait till morning?" she queried dryly, trying to mask the fear this man's voice stirred in her. So much for gloating... "They couldn't wait till, I don't know, a proper time? Somebody could walk through that door and see you... what if somebody else had been in here with me?"

"Nobody has yet and nobody was," was his answer to her sarcastic questions, his voice showing no sign of hearing the bite to her voice although she knew that those perfect ears of his would have heard it easily. "Anyway, shall we continue?"

"No, I don't think we shall," she answered and winced when she heard no immediate reply.

"You seem to assume that I'm a patient man, Sakura," he said after a moment's pause, "That is a very deadly mistake to make, I must say. I must also warn you that I'm quite the sore loser and will not take kindly to not getting my way."

_Immature much...? _She would have voiced this thought if not for the threat of those red eyes boring holes into her head being the last thing she saw if she dared to do something so stupid. So, instead, she just said, "I never said that we wouldn't talk, Itachi-san. There are actually some things that I'd like to discuss with you, also. Just not right now. Like I said, somebody could walk in at any moment and then where would we be?"

"I can easily deal with them," he answered.

"I'm sure you could," she said, speaking in a tone that a mother would use to try and placate an unruly child, "But I'd rather not take the chance. And besides, I'm exhausted. Even if it's only till tomorrow, I'd appreciate it if we had a rain check."

"Orochimaru is on the move," he told her, ignoring everything she'd just said, "He will be here in a few days, so I suggest you prepare yourself and your comrades for his arrival." With that, he disappeared, those glowing red orbs disappearing into the darkness.

Once she was certain that he was really gone, she fell back into her bed and closed her eyes, trying to force the image of that man's face from her mind. He really was beautiful, wasn't he? She remembered seeing a picture of him in the missions records back in Konoha and she remembered noticing that he wasn't a bad-looking man, but now... that picture had given the real thing no justice. His hair was ebony black, a stark contrast to his face, pale as porcelain. His Sharingan-clad eyes were like two bullets piercing her every time they landed upon her, he was at least a head-and-a-half taller than her and she could imagine herself pressed against his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head.

Yes, he was beautiful. And attractive, she couldn't deny that either.

"Uchiha Itachi, huh?" she murmured to herself, closing her eyes to finally allow herself to go to sleep, "I'd imagine he wouldn't be the most fortunate enemy for a person to have."

And that was something she knew to be true and something she knew she'd have to avoid. He may have been beautiful, a masterpiece in human form, but there was nothing beautiful about the idea of how easily he could "deal with" anybody that got in his way.

She would have to be more careful the next time she saw him..._ if_ there was a next time, that was. She had to make sure that she didn't act so self-important and sarcastic or else his eyes probably would be the last thing she saw.

She sighed and finally fell asleep, his words following her into unconsciousness, _"I suggest you prepare yourself and your comrades for his arrival."_ The last coherent thought that passed through her mind was, _Why does he care what happens to us?_

* * *

A/N: Again... a short chapter... but I can say that I did try to make it long... but failed. T.T I just can't do long chapters, sorry! n.n;

Anyway, why _does_ he care? Bah, why do I even try? You guys already know why he cares! Meanies, ruining all my fun. Joking, joking! I love you!


	7. Who To Trust

A/N: Okay, I screwed up royally. I accidentally reposted the sixth chapter as the seventh chapter and, having not realized it, deleted the actual seventh chapter. So, I ended up having to rewrite the whole damn thing! My deepest thanks to AkatsukiDEMONAngel for cluing me in on my mistake! So, here it is!

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning to the sound of silence. She sat up in her bed and looked around to find that every other bed was empty and made, telling her that she had slept in... on her first day. Great, what a wonderful first impression she would make. With an irritated sigh, she got out of bed and left the barracks to get to work. What she found outside of the barracks, however, was rather disturbing.

All the shinobi who should have been training and preparing for Orochimaru's attack were just lazing around, taking amiably with one another or sparring companionably. They seemed perfectly at ease despite the threat hanging over their heads.

She quirked a brow and headed down the gravel-laden trail that ran through the base, looking for anybody that could possibly explain to her why none of these shinobi weren't scared spitless at the moment.

She had barely taken three steps by the time an arm wrapped around her shoulders and she looked up to find the same man she'd seen the day before, the hospitable one. He was smiling down at her and she grimaced. She didn't like the look of his smile.

Then again, everything about this man made her want to get away from him. His lips were thin and pale, quriked up into a smile that reminded her of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. His eyes were small and beady, an odd glint in them that she couldn't quite put her finger on, his face pale. He definitely needed to gain some weight and needed, even more, to get the hell away from her.

"I'd say 'good morning' to you, but it's the afternoon. Did you sleep well?" he greeted, then asked, "Are you hungry? I'm afraid you missed lunch, but I'm sure we could rummage you up some grub to hold you over till dinner."

She had been too tired and frustrated from Itachi's words the day before to notice, but now she did. Even his voice was creepy and she couldn't help but notice the almost-reptilian way he hissed his words, prolonged the '_s_'-sounds to a '_ssssss_' sound. She didn't like that either.

"Actually," she said, trying to shrug out of his hold, "I'm not quite hungry at the moment."

He seemed to have not heard her and, instead of allowing her to escape his hold, he only tightened his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close as he continued toward the Mess Hall. He said, "Let's get some food in your belly. I'll see if we have some ramen or something, okay?"

"But I don't—"

"Right, ramen isn't very breakfast-y, is it?" he interrupted, still not letting her go. "How about toast then? I'm sure we could do that."

"But I'm not—"

The man continued rambling on about some drivel about nothing in particular, keeping her from speaking out. "... breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, after all, so..."

That was when Sakura had finally had it. She finally managed to slip out of his grasp and rush around until she was in font of him, making him stop. "What is wrong with you people!" she exclaimed with irritation. When she saw the man's surprised and hurt expression, however, she explained a little less angrily, "I mean, everybody's just sitting on their asses when Orochimaru could be here any day. He could be here in five minutes!"

"We can't possibly rush into battle weary and exhausted from training," he told her with a tad of defensiveness in his voice.

"Yeah, but we shouldn't just sit around! These people probably don't even have their weapons on them. We'd be sitting ducks if we were to be attacked!"

"But we aren't being attacked right now, are we?"

"That's not the point!" she exclaimed, "You may not have been in Konoha when the Sandaime was assassinated, but the damage was almost absolute. If we just sit around with our thumbs up our asses, Orochimaru might actually destroy Konoha for good! I don't know about you, but Konoha is my home and I am not going to just stand idly by while my home is destroyed!"

The man waited a few moments and, when he decided that she wasn't going to say more, asked, "Are you quite finished?"

She scowled in reply.

Taking that as as good a "yes" as any, he nodded his satisfaction and smiled again, wrapping his arm around her shoulders again. "Good, now why don't we go get some food in your belly? It'll make you feel much better, less grouchy. Shall we?"

With an exasperated growl, she stomped on the man's foot to make him let her go and stormed away. She had no idea where she was going, only knew that she had to get away from all of this craziness.

* * *

"Hah!" she exclaimed from the exertion as she punched a tree once again.

Unable to handle anymore of the engraged girl's temper, the trunk of the tree splintered and fell, the sound echoing around the forest.

Panting with exhaustion, she stumbled away from the murdered tree, trying to find a place to rest. Apparently the forest chose for her, however, because she tripped on a tree root and tumbled forward, smacking her head on another tree.

"Ow!" she shouted, the pain only furthering her anger and making her lash out once again. With a furious scream, she rose to her feet and charged at another tree. Once that tree feel, she allowed herself to sink to her knees and bury her face in her hands. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked herself, trying to force back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I don't know who to trust. Those people... they're so ignorant! They have no idea of what's coming! But the Akatsuki... they're evil. They want Naruto! Who do I trust?"

The only answer given to her was the small voice in the back of her head telling her, _Trust Itachi... he's smart and he knows what's going on and what to do. He may be a cold-hearted bastard, but at least he's a cold-hearted bastard that knows what to do._

Her head was pounding, her hands felt sore and raw from releasing her anger on the trees, she was cold and tired. What was she going to do?

"What am I going to do?" she whispered hopelessly.

That was when she heard Itachi's voice. It was quiet, so, when she heard it, she just assumed that she must've bumped her head a little too hard. but ten she heard it again, louder, and she looked up to find the rogue Uchiha standing before her, his emotionless eyes staring lazily down at her. "Trust us," he said.

At first, she felt a sense of fear. But then she sighed in defeat and bowed her head. "You've got to stop sneaking up on my like this."

She got no reply to that.

She looked up again and asked, "You expect me to trust you? It's kind of hard for a Konoha shinobi to trust a missing-nin, isn't it?" There was no sarcasm or rudeness in her words, only curiosity.

The same was for Itachi as he retorted, "It's rather hard for an Akatsuki to trust a Konoha shinobi, as well, is it not?"

She had to give the point to him on that one, but refused to forfeit the match. "How am I supposed to trust you?"

"A truce has been set," he informed her, "The Akatsuki will do nothing to harm you or any of your comrades just as you or any of your comrades will not attack us. We will work together, take Orochimaru down, and then things will go back to how they were. We will continue our hunt for the tailed demons and you will continue your hunt for us. Agreed?"

She thought on that a moment. "And what if I fall in this battle?"

"That is none of our concern," he told her, "You wouldn't raise a finger to save any of us, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," she answered truthfully.

He nodded, obviously having already known the answer. "Then are we agreed?"

She reluctantly nodded and stood, following him as he turned and began to walk away. She would hear him out and then return to the base to prepare for the battle. If she was going to fight alongside Akatsuki, she'd have to be prepared for anything.

* * *

A/N: O.O You know, this may be the longest chapter in the story. Huzzah! Hope you enjoyed and please review!


	8. Meeting the Akatsuki

A/N: Well, a lot of you are probably going back to school. Isn't it wonderful? *Dodges rotten fruit thrown at random* Anyway, since I am super-duper awesome, I managed to graduate last year and am taking the year off, so you know what that means? No school to get in the way of my writing! XD

The only things that may get in the way are work and my other hobbies (such as my insatiable need to read). But I am going to try to keep everything on a regular basis here for you guys, so you should expect updates every couple of days or so. Okay? Okay!

* * *

As a way of showing Sakura that the Akatsuki was willing to play fair, Itachi brought her to the spot where they had set up camp so that she could meet them. Of course, she'd been extremely reluctant to do such a thing and had even tried to tell Itachi that the deal was off and that she'd use her allies. Unfortunately, the rogue Uchiha would have none of that. He only dragged her along beside him as he walked through the darkening forest, the light beginning to fade because of the setting sun.

Then, there she was, in the clearing, standing among a group of S-class criminals who could easily overpower her and take her life if they so wished. But, oddly enough, they simply sat lazily around the clearing, looking bored and completely apathetic. She was pretty sure one was even asleep.

Itachi finally released her wrist and moved is hand to her back to urge her forward. "This is the kunoichi," he told the group, but they didn't seem to have heard him.

Well, at least until Deidara looked up and grimaced. "Yup, that's the chick that helped kill Sasori-danna, hm."

That got everybody's attention. They all looked up to eye the girl who had succeeded in killing one of their own. They showed no signs of hostility or resentment, however, only a curiosity of the one who obviously seemed to have a great deal of strength. The one that had seemed to be asleep even opened his eyes and directed his gaze toward her, his cold gray eyes simply watching her with a faint interest.

"Uh..." she murmured, unsure what she was supposed to say to a group of S-class criminals who she was most likely going to risk her life for. "Hi."

Only one person replied. He was a rather short boy with a high-pitched voice and an orange and black mask. He jumped up from his perch in a tree and landed gracefully on his feet, exclaiming, "Hi! In case you're wondering, Tobi is a good boy!"

"Um... actually, I-I wasn't wondering that."

"Oh..." The boy's shoulders sagged noticeably and e hung his head a bit.

"I was wondering," a man that looked like he was being gobbled up by a giant Venus Flytrap told him, which seemed to put the masked boy back into good spirits.

She turned toward Itachi, knowing full-well that her eyes were probably filled with incredulity. "They're idiots," she hissed at him and he merely shrugged.

"Indeed, Tobi does like to act like an idiot," he agreed with her, "But I highly suggest you do not take him lightly. He may act like an idiot, but he really is far from idiotic."

"Uchiha!" somebody snapped and both whirled around to see the man with the cold, calculating gray eyes now standing opposite Itachi and Sakura, his eyes showing no room for anymore chatter. "Now is not a time to be spouting the secrets of the Akatsuki to Konoha shinobi."

"Yes, Leader-sama," Itachi agreed quickly and gave a low bow to the man, "I am in agreement with you there."

Sakura was shocked. Itachi was a kiss-ass? Well, she thought, looking back toward the man Itachi had referred to as "Leader-sama" and giving him another look, he definitely seemed like the type of man that a person would be smart to kiss up to. His hair was a shock of red, his face riddled with piercings. Ears, mouth, nose, eyebrows; all the piercings made him look like a masochist. But what scared her the most was the dark expression on his face. He looked like the type of guy that didn't give others a chance—let alone a second one—and he was probably a very impatient, cold-hearted individual.

He scared her.

She turned back to Itachi to see that he had stood back to his full height and that he was now running his eyes over the group of people before them. "Haruno-san—"

"You refer to her by her_ name_?" one of the men, a silver-haired, rather shirtless man with a very amused expression on his face, asked, "Damn, Uchiha, you've gone soft. If you'd joined Jashen like I'd told you to, you wouldn't be in this predicament."

Itachi only gave him a look that seemed to say "You'll pay for that", but only continued, "Haruno-san has agreed to trust us and set up a temporary truce between her and us. She will fight along with us against Orochimaru and, with her help, I'm quite sure we will be victorious."

"Victorious, hm?" Deidara chuckled. "Alright, let's humor your madness for the moment and say she does _help_ us." He spat the word 'help' as thought it were a curse. "What about after the battle, hm? Does she turn on us and us on her? You can't honestly expect us to just part ways so easily."

"That will be expected of you, actually," the man known as Leader-sama answered for Itachi and added, his gaze locking on Sakura's, "If she does try to turn on us, we can easily overpower her."

Sakura stood by her judgement that the man scared her.

"And if she tells somebody about all of this?" a female, the only female queried, flicking her blue hair out of her eyes with a toss of her head, "What if she botches this mission?"

"Yes," the Venus Flytrap man agreed, his voice somehow changing, becoming darker and a bit more menacing, "May we kill her as punishment? I haven't tasted Konoha meat in quite a many moon."

Itachi stepped forward, pushing her behind him, much to the Akatsuki's disappointments. Boos and shouts of Itachi being a spoil-sport was heard, but he didn't budge, only said, "Haruno is off limits to anybody. She know the implications of her actions should she utter a word to anybody who should not know about our plans. And, if she does betray our very rare trust..." He paused, either for effect or too gain the courage to say such a thing, Sakura didn't know, "I will deal with her myself."

For some reason, Sakura felt as though he had just pushed her out of the line of fire and put her into a new one at the same time. A few wolf whistles were heard and some of the members made some rather crude comments on Itachi's interest in "the kunoichi".

Not good... pleasant, but not good.

* * *

A/N: Itachi is protecting her! XD Why? Even I don't know that yet. Y.Y


	9. Letter From Home

A/N: Nightwish is officially my muse to write. I seem to be able to write much easier while listening to Tarja and her beautiful voice singing in my head. XD

* * *

As Sakura lay in her bed that night, she wondered what was going to happen next. She had given her alliance to the Akatsuki, if only for a single battle. She had not only held a civil conversation with Uchiha Itachi, her sworn enemy, but had also felt the warmth of his hand on her wrist. She had looked into his eyes and seen the cold, calculating look that sharpened the endless depths of his crimson Sharingan eyes.

She had been so caught up in this man, in all of the hateful and yet soft feelings he brought upon her that she still hadn't sent Tsunade a letter to tell of her arrival. Tsunade probably thought she was dead and in the ground by now.

She sighed and rolled out of bed, pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt before heading out of the barracks, closing the door as softly as she could manage so as not to wake up any of her roommates. She went into the Headquarters of the base and stole a couple pieces of paper and a pencil. Sitting down on a bench, she began her letter.

_Tsunade-shishou:_

_I have made it to the base and have settled myself in rather well. There are many things here that must be changed if we want to win the battle against Orochimaru, but I'm sure that I can fix those problems._

_On the plus side, I have made some rather unlikely allies and hope that this relationship will prove beneficial. Of course, I have every confidence that we will be able to deflect any attacks, especially with the help of these new allies._

_Unfortunately, I can't reveal the names of these people, or which village they belong to because of reasons that are my own, but I have established a sense of trust with these people and know that our village is safe because these people want Orochimaru as much as we do._

"Haruno."

Sakura jumped at the sound of her name and looked up to see a tall, muscular man headed her way, his face expressionless. In one hand he held a piece of paper, and in the other an envelope. She eyed him quizzically until he stopped before her and handed over the piece of paper.

"A letter came for you while you were away," he explained, "You must forgive our rudeness, but when our _strong and_ _fearless leader _noticed that the letter was from the Hokage, he demanded he see it immediately, so it has already been opened."

She smiled. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who thought that man from before didn't make a very good leader. She accepted letter and the opened envelope and immediately read it over.

_Sakura:_

_I have yet to receive word from you, so that either means that you have failed to carry out your orders, or you are dead. But, if you are reading this, then none of that matters because you will no longer be able to keep contact with Konoha. I will explain this in a moment, Sasuke's trial must come first._

_We did hold the trial once Sasuke was healed and, unfortunately, Naruto managed to convince the people to allow him back. Though, how he did this, I have no idea since everybody seems to hold a great deal of resentment toward him. _

_But, anyway, onto the next part of the letter: this means that Orochimaru's attack will be imminent. Assuming, of course, if he still wants Sasuke. Unfortunately, after all the time and effort he put into this endeavor, it is unlikely that he would give up so easily. So, be prepared and be careful, Sakura, I will not have you dying on us. Not after how much work we put into keeping this village safe. _

_Communication during this point, however, is extremely risky, however, so this will be my one and only letter and I heed you not to reply. I will see you again after your mission is completed._

_After the battle is won, come home to us and help me to terrorize Sasuke a bit. It'll be fun. Okay? Alright._

_Take care, Sakura, we'll be waiting for you._

_Tsunade_

So, her prediction had come true. Sasuke was once again living in Konoha and she would soon be returning to her home, knowing that Sasuke would be there. Great.

"I trust it's good news?"

She was surprised to notice that the man that had delivered the message hadn't left and she smiled sheepishly. "Sort of half-and-half. The village is still standing, but... they have a traitor in their midst."

He nodded with a grunt of recognition. "The younger Uchiha. I had heard you and your team had managed to retrieve him. That's why you're here, is it not?"

"That's correct."

"Then perhaps that traitor's return to Konoha was not all bad."

Her smile warmed and she nodded with agreement. "No, I guess not."

* * *

The next morning, Sakura awoke bright and early, changing into the outfit she wore specifically for high-ranked missions, taking her weapons outside with her. She started her plan by throwing a kunai at a guy, allowing it to miss him by mere millimetres.

The man looked dazed at first, then afraid, then outraged. He stood with a loud roar and charged her. She managed to easily evade the attack and tackle him to the ground. Sitting casually on the man's back, she eyed the people around her with amusement.

"We are in a severe state of disrepair," she informed them, examining her fingernails as she did so. She looked up with a smirk as she said, "I plan to change that." She stood and exclaimed, "Anybody who wants to live to see Orochimaru fall will attack me now!"

And, with that, everybody in the surrounding area charged Haruno Sakura, ready to take her down. Said kunoichi remained rather amused, however, and then met the people half way, beginning her training.

From the sidelines, Itachi smirked. He had found himself quite the ally of the Leaf. She was a spunky one, he'd give her that. As he disappeared back into the shadows, he chuckled, taking in her graceful, dancing form as she fought with her comrades.

Beautiful.

* * *

A/N: ... I don't know what to say here... I must also thank Muse for helping me to write this chapter. Whoever says that Uprising is a bad song can go to Hell because I love it! XD


	10. Plan To Attack

A/N: You get to see Itachi's point of view in this one. X3

* * *

It was hard for Uchiha Itachi to believe that the events that had taken place over the last couple of days were not from his most hellish of dreams. Did he really ask a Konoha kunoichi for _help_? What a complete waste of time, energy and his dignity.

He had implored Pein to reconsider. He had told him that the Akatsuki alone could deal with Orochimaru and that they didn't need an outside influence to "help" them... especially not an outside influence from that wasteland of a village. But Pein had insisted and, when Pein put his mind to something, all that his followers could do was bear with it and do as they were told lest they end up with a nail through the skull.

Sitting on a branch with his back against the trunk, one leg bent in front of him and the other dangling beside the branch, he watched as Haruno Sakura fought with her comrades once again, that elated look on her face only serving to frustrate him.

This girl was skilled, he had to admit, she moved with the grace of a dancer, but with the deadliness of a true warrior. She truly was Tsunade's apprentice. But her skill wasn't what frustrated him. She was nothing but a child. True, she was only about five or six years younger than he, but she acted like a child. She was unable to toss away the human emotions that bound her to her life and, because of those emotions, she had so much strength that would be left untapped.

Her ignorance astounded him and he wanted nothing to do with her. He hated seeing that smile on her face, hearing her giggle, the sound not unlike the tinkling of bells, watching her eyes light up when she was excited or watching them daze over when she was thinking. He hated all of it and yet couldn't take his eyes away... because she was to be his new Akatsuki partner once Orochimaru was captured.

He had just been clued in on this little detail that his leader had neglected to tell him and it had made any positive thoughts about the alliance between the kunoichi and the Akatsuki run for the hills screaming bloody murder. He remembered actually thinking that the girl known as Haruno was spunky and beautiful but now she couldn't have been less attracted to her.

He hated the very thought of having to work beside her, but didn't much like the thought of a nail in his skull, either.

* * *

Sakura fell on her rear, gasping in huge gulps of air, sweat trickling from her brow. She smirked wearily at the sight of all of her comrades on the ground, either unconscious or dead tired. The Akatsuki would be surprised when they saw the depth of her power. They would probably ask her to join!

Sakura wanted to laugh at that, but couldn't. Nothing about that idea was funny and she found herself hoping that they didn't ask her to join because there just wasn't any way for her to do such a thing. She would never, ever, betray Konoha and especially not to join the Akatsuki.

She managed to get back to her feet and tried to stumble her way around the people scattered over the ground toward the barracks, but found her legs feeling heavy and exhausting to move.

"What the hell have you done?!" She looked up to find her fearless leader looking paler than usual, his eyes wide and flitting all over the place, taking in the scene before him. "What were you thinking taking everybody out!"

She shrugged, telling him, "They're just resting. We got a little carried away while training."

"Again," he added flatly.

"Again," she agreed with a nod, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."

His look darkened and Sakura could've sworn she saw something not-quite-right in the man's eyes. He looked... well, she couldn't explain what he looked like, but she knew that the look n his eye was familiar. She just couldn't quite place her finger on where she'd seen that look of madness before.

Then, an image flickered in her mind and she gasped. Orochimaru. How could she have not seen it before? This man's features were startlingly close to those or Orochimaru's, the way he spoke, that glint of insanity in his eyes. Was this man Orochimaru in another one of his disguises?

"Uh..." she murmured, trying to find her voice so that she could try and quell the man's sudden anger, but finding herself unable. "I-I..."

Then, he brightened and said, "But never mind. Why don't you go grab some breakfast? Breakfast is, after all, the most important meal of the day!"

She grunted her acknowledgment, but didn't go to the Mess Hall, instead going straight to her bed... where Itachi was waiting.

"What?" she asked, waving her hand for him to get off of her bed. He did no such thing.

"That man," he said, instead, "Who is he?"

She sighed and said, "I don't even know."

"He resembles Orochimaru."

She nodded her agreement. "I agree. And the fact that his disguise is so obvious means that he needs to switch bodies and soon. He's probably extremely weakened and will be even more desperate to get Sasuke or else he'll have to wait another few years."

"Does he suspect you know?"

"I only just put two and two together, but, if he does, he didn't let on."

He nodded, seeming appeased with that answer.

Sakura couldn't help but notice that he was acting much differently than he had been the night before. Then, he had been polite and had actually held a real conversation, but now, his sentences were clipped and to the point. He wasted no words and kept everything he said to a minimum. She wondered what had brought about this change in him.

"We will have to act quickly," he told her, "We attack tomorrow at dawn."

She nodded. "I'll be ready and waiting."

He nodded and then disappeared in a plume of smoke, leaving behind these words: "Tomorrow at dawn, with or without you." She didn't like the tone in his voice as he said those words.

* * *

A/N: I know. Short. Sorry.


	11. The Battle Begins

A/N: Here's the beginning of the battle with Orochimaru, which means that we're close to the end of the first arc. Huzzah! XD

* * *

Sakura met the Akatsuki in the forest just before dawn, wearing the proper attire for an all-out battle with an evil snake-man and his minions. Her weapons' pouches were strapped to her waist and right thigh; she wore leg and arm guards, pulled her hair into a small ponytail and had a katana strapped to her back for easy access.

The Akatsuki looked as they usually did. They were all about the black and red cloaks and Goth motif, their fingernails painted different colors depending on which group they were in. The one thing she couldn't help but notice, however, was Itachi's absence.

"Don't worry, kunoichi," one of the men chuckled suggestively when he noticed the slight bit of disappointment that sneaked into her expression, "Uchiha will be here soon, he's just getting the diversions prepared. You'll get to see lover boy before you have to go kick snake ass."

"L-Lover boy?" she had to keep herself from screeching, her jaw dropping. "But I never—He's not—I'm not—We never—We aren't..." She shut up the moment she saw the darkly amused smirks widen and sighed. It would seem that they enjoyed making her feel uncomfortable. Nice.

Then, Itachi jumped from the crown of trees and landed right in front of her, catching her by surprise. "Wah!" she exclaimed, jumping back and landing on her rear, a chorus of chuckles sounding from the group of evil spectators.

Itachi looked down his nose at her, and then looked away, an odd look that Sakura couldn't quite place on his face. "I take it you're ready, Haruno-san?"

"U-Uh... yeah," she stammered, looking away, also. Her face felt hot and she had no idea why. The look the Uchiha had had on his face was stuck in her mind and she felt a soft warmth envelope her heart at the memory. He looked so sad... like his true emotions were showing and he felt troubled that e couldn't hide them.

"Then we should get going."

"Right," she murmured, remembering her mission. She stood back to her feet and dusted herself off, making sure to keep her eyes off of the rogue Uchiha. There was definitely something going on with him at the moment and really didn't want that beautiful yet sad look on his face to pull her in.

"Head out," Pein ordered and everybody ran in the direction of the camp.

Not to a whole lot of Sakura's surprise, there was an army of Sound shinobi waiting for them. There must have been about thirty shinobi there waiting for them with their weapons and their cocky smirks. And standing there in the center of that little army was her former fearless leader, Orochimaru in disguise. He wore the cockiest smirk of them all and Sakura wanted to punch it right off his stupid little face.

"Haruno, Uchiha, Tobi, take the rear," Pein commanded, "Hoshigaki, Deidara and Kakuzu can take the front. Zetsu and Hidan can take the right, Konan and I will take the left. Move!" And everybody branched out.

"Sakura, get in the middle," Itachi said quietly, moving behind so that he could take her place on the left while Tobi took the right. "When I say jump, jump."

"Why?" she asked curiously, but he didn't answer, only kept looking ahead of them with a grim expression on his face. "Why do we have to jump, Itachi-san?"

"You'll see!" Tobi sing-songed cheerfully and laughed almost maniacally.

She began to wish she hadn't asked.

"Jump!" Itachi barked and all three of them jumped in unison as four different bombs went off one after the other, causing the earth to shake violently. Everybody whose feet were on the ground lost their balance and, thanks to Itachi's warning and apparently a warning to the other Akatsuki members, none of said terrorist organization's feet were on the ground at the time.

So, most of Orochimaru's army lost their balance and fell, making themselves easy prey. The Akatsuki pounced on as many men as they could and killed as many as they could, but the tremors couldn't last forever and the army was beginning to regain their footing.

Somewhere in all the fighting, Sakura lost track of Itachi and Tobi, only spotted those she decided would be her targets and went after them, then chose her next target and went after them, too. It wasn't until she heard the agonized screams that she remembered just who she was dealing with.

She turned to see several bodies lying in a circle with Itachi standing at the center, looking as casual as a man standing at a bus stop. He lazily stepped around the bodies and then scouted out his next target and she did her same.

She had sliced a young man's jugular and, as the man fell to the ground, his blood draining away, she realized just how easy this was. Too easy.

She whirled around to find Orochimaru standing out of disguise, a smirk not unlike that of the cat who got the cream. He raised one hand into the arm and snapped his fingers, the sound somehow heard over all of the chaos. Everybody stopped and turned to watch with awe as countless more shinobi fell from the sky, attached to parachutes.

With a hearty chuckle, he dropped his hand so that he could look around at all of the people on the battlefield. "My dear friends," he said happily, "You've just been ambushed."

And then all Hell broke loose.

* * *

A/N: Shorter than usual, I know, but I couldn't resist leaving it on a cliffy. Sorry!


	12. Her Savior

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far! XD

* * *

Within a few minutes, Sakura's breath was ragged and her muscles were beginning to ache. She was repeatedly sending chakra to her fists and feet to help her fight, but she was already running low and she doubted she could get much farther. She managed to punch one of the Sound-nin hard enough to dislocate his jaw and used her katana to finish the job, but she found herself unable to move after that for weariness. She had to put most of her weight on the hilt of her katana while she gasped for breath, trying to work up some energy.

She couldn't. They were too strong, she was too tired, she could barely stay on her feet.

"Get the Uchiha!" she heard some of the Sound-nin shout, the voices sounding hollow and distant, as though they were shouting from inside a cave, but she knew what was happening. She was passing out. "Take the Uchiha out first and then deal with the rest!"

They were planning on killing Itachi. The back of her mind was screaming for her to get up, telling her that, if Itachi were to die, then they were really doomed. She couldn't handle fighting this battle alone.

_But you wouldn't be alone,_ the logical part of her mind whispered, _You have the rest of the Akatsuki to back you up. Besides, who was it that said that neither side would be obliged to save the other? And what about Sasuke? You could go home a hero, say that you helped in killing Itachi._

"I don't care," she gasped, finally falling to her hands and knees, resting her forehead on the ground, "I don't care. Sasuke can go to Hell. Akatsuki can go to Hell." A vision of that troubled look on Itachi's face flashed through her mind and she growled with frustration. "I just... need to... save _him_!"

She forced one of her knees from the ground so that one of her feet was on the ground and used it to push herself upright. She was panting again, but at least she was able to stay on her feet. She searched the battlefield for Itachi until she saw him. He was surrounded by Sound-nin and was about to be killed if she didn't do something.

She grabbed her katana from its place in her last victim's gut and stumbled toward the group, using her katana like a walking stick.

The sun was beginning to rise and a pink-orange light splashed over the battlefield, painting all the faces with an angelic glow that didn't belong to a place filled with so much death. Sakura's eyes traveled over all the bodies laying forgotten on the ground and felt herself grow even more tired.

"Itachi," she whispered softly, her eyelids drooping slightly and her hold on her katana loosening.

She fell forward, expecting to land on the cold ground, but found herself enveloped in warmth. She looked up wearily to see Itachi looking down at her, his arms wrapped tightly around her. There was a cut just under his eye that was bleeding and she could tell by the way he was putting his weight on his left foot that he was probably badly injured, but still he held her.

"I have my orders," he told her softly, giving away no sign of the pain that had to be there, "You and I have to get out of here."

"But, Orochimaru..." she reminded him softly.

"Pein is dealing with it," he said vaguely, standing up and rushing off with her in his arms.

"I thought they were going to kill you," she whispered, forcing herself to keep her eyes open, "They were saying to kill you first. How are you still alive? What happened?"

"I got away, of course," he answered, still limping away.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there, now enough questions. We have to get out of here quickly and your interrogation is not helping."

"But why am _I_ going with you?"

With a sigh, Itachi broke into a run and jumped into the trees. It wasn't a moment too soon because they had barely been running through the trees when the entire camp burst into flame. Sakura didn't get to see it because she was already unconscious.

"Urgh," Sakura groaned as she rolled onto her side and pulled the covers tighter around her. Her head hurt. Her entire body hurt, actually, and, although she was feeling particularly well-rested, she still felt physically exhausted.

Letting out a yawn, she finally cracked her eyes open enough to see that she was laying in an unfamiliar bed. Forcing herself to sit up, she let out another grunt of pain as she felt her joints groan with the movement. She looked around to see the walls made of stone with a fireplace and hearth. The fire crackled lazily and she wondered who had been the one to start it.

She didn't remember starting the fire. Let alone, she didn't even remember how she'd gotten to be where she was... wherever she was.

She heard a soft sigh and whirled around to look beside the bed. And that's when she saw him. Itachi was laying on the red shag carpet of the floor, using his cloak as a blanket. By the way his face twisted, she supposed that the floor wasn't a very comfortable place to sleep.

She sighed and got out of the bed, crouching beside the rogue Uchiha. The man had saved her, the least she could do was switch places with him. She gave him a hard poke in the shoulder, saying, "Hey, wake up." But it didn't mean she had to be gracious about it.

He cracked an eye open and looked up at her with a quirked brow. "Yes?"

"Get in the bed."

He blinked slowly, tiredly, then told her almost jokingly, "You know, I don't think I've ever received such a blatant sexual request before."

Sakura had to keep her eyebrow from twitching and stopped herself before she smacked him senseless. "Not with _me_, Stupid. I'll sleep on the floor and you can take the bed."

"But what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you take the floor?"

"I doubt that really has much relevance in a terrorist's sense of morals," she stated dryly, "Now get in the bed and go back to sleep. I'd like to go back to sleep, too, and you're wasting my valuable REM time."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes just slightly and got up, climbing into the bed and rolling onto his side, his back facing her. With a sigh and a satisfied nod, she curled up on the carpet and tried to go back to sleep.

Then, a warmth enveloped her and she snapped her eyes open to see that Itachi had forfeited his blanket in favor of his cloak. She had to smile softly at that and curled up under the blanket, drifting off into sleep.

* * *

A/N: At first, this chapter was going to be a little over 700 words long, but that was way too short. So, I added this last little part. I hope it doesn't make it rushed. Besides, I really only wanted it for some comic relief. I love it! XD


	13. The Interrogation

A/N: This chapter may seem filler-ish, but I can guarantee you it has its purpose. XD

* * *

After some more sleep, Sakura felt a little bit better and even managed to keep herself awake. She sat up from her sleeping place to see that she was no longer on the floor and that she was in the bed and Itachi wasn't in the room. She blinked in surprise and wondered how he'd manged to move her from the floor to the bed without her waking up. Had she been that tired?

Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, she slid out of the bed and left the room, determined to find some answers as to where she was. She walked down the long corridor, wrapping the blanket tighter around her as a shiver run up her legs from the cold stone floor. She looked into every room along the hallway, finding each one either a bedroom or a study, but all of them were uninhabited. Then, she came upon a library.

She peeked into the room to see Itachi sitting in a cushioned chair, his legs crossed and a book in his hands. The chair was positioned so that Sakura could only see a side profile of the rogue Uchiha, but from what she saw, she couldn't help but blush. The man really was beautiful. The expression on his face was far from dreamy, but she could see that his eyes were dazed over, as though he wasn't reading the book, but was imagining it. She smiled at the softness in his usually stony expression.

She cleared her throat softly, hoping it'd catch is attention and, as she had expected, it did. He took his attention away from the book he was reading to look at her and said, "So, you've finally woken."

She nodded slightly and entered the room, noticing Itachi's eyes following her movement until she was in front of him. She sat down on the floor and tucked her legs underneath herself and waited for him to start explaining.

He just stared down at her.

With a sigh, she asked, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you going to tell me why you saved me or aren't you?"

He simply quirked his head upward a little so that he could arrogantly stare down his nose at her. She glared right back at him, quirking an impatient brow at him. He just sighed and placed the book on the arm of the chair, knowing that she wasn't going to allow him to return to it without a fight, and drummed his fingers on it thoughtfully. Then, he asked her, "Why should I explain myself to you?"

"I think I deserve an explanation."

He quirked a brow at her. "I think you misunderstand, Haruno-san. I saved you, and thus, I owe you nothing. Be thankful that I'm in a rather generous mood and won't demand that you owe me something in return."

Her eyes narrowed and she asked, "What happened to you saying that neither of us would lift a finger to save the other?"

"I already told you," he said, allowing a tiny hint of impatience to enter his tone, "I don't owe you an explanation and I will thank you not to bring it up again."

She stared defiantly into his eyes, hoping to stare him down. Unfortunately, it seemed that the man was a stronger opponent than she was used to because he wound up staring her down. She looked away, still sitting at the man's feet. "I... was going to try to save you," she mumbled, her cheeks heating up at the confession.

She heard no response and so looked up to see that slightly troubled look on his face. Once again it looked like his emotions were breaking through his calm and controlled surface and he couldn't understand why he couldn't keep them hidden. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Not telling."

His eyes narrowed for a moment and then he regained his composure, commenting, "My, Haruno-san, aren't you mature?"

She smirked back at him.

"Such unattractive nonsense isn't going to make me feel inclined to explain myself to you. Like I said, it would be best for you to drop the subject."

She scowled up at him. "That's hardly fair."

"I doubt fairness is really relevant in a terrorist's sense of morals," he told her, using the words she had used against him earlier that morning, irritating her to no end, then picked up his book again and started reading.

"Will you at least tell me where we are?"

"One of the Akatsuki's hideouts," he answered vaguely, not looking up from his book, "I will also thank you not to ask further on that subject as well."

She sighed, burying herself further into the blanket to sulk. "Then why did you bring me here?"

"You should go read a book," he told her, finally looking up from his book to spear her with an impatient look. "There are tons here, go take a look."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, forfeiting the blanket to go search the bookshelves. When she heard a soft choking noise and then Itachi clearing his throat, she looked back at him to see what was wrong with him. That was when she noticed her lack of clothing and the fact that all she was wearing were her underthings. With a squeak she rushed back to the blanket and wrapped it around her like a towel. "You undressed me, you perv!"

"I did no such thing," he replied, looking everywhere but at her.

"You did, too!" she exclaimed, using one hand to hold the blanket in place while she used the other to point an accusing finger at him, "You undressed me!"

"I did no such thing," he repeated.

"Then who did!"

"I woke you up and let you do all the work," he said quickly, still refusing to look at her, "And I will thank you not to bring it up again."

Shaking her head with exasperation, she turned back to the bookshelves, chose a book and sat down, facing the shelf so that her back was toward Itachi. Grumbling, she started reading the book, not really reading it, but skimming her eyes over the words. "Jerk," she grumbled and could have sworn she heard Itachi chuckle.

* * *

A/N: Comedy relief is _awesome_! XD


	14. His True Character

A/N: Sorry for updating late, I had to work around a teensy weensy block or else this chapter would have wound up being filler-ish again.

* * *

Itachi had had his reasons for saving the young kunoichi on that battlefield, but he certainly wasn't going to tell _her _what they were. That would be like presenting himself to Sasuke with a pretty pink ribbon tied around his waist and saying, "Come an' get me, my adorable little brother!" and that was the last thing he would ever do.

So, he had no other choice. He would continue to evade the girl's questions and put up with the annoying—and yet oddly enjoyable—antics she liked to perform with the hopes that she would annoy him into telling her why he saved her.

"Why did you save me?"

"A momentary lapse in judgment."

"Why did you save me?"

"Temporary insanity."

"Why did you save me?"

"I plead the fifth."

"Why did you save me?"

"Because your big mouth would make a nice paperweight."

There was silence on her end, making him look up from the book he was reading to see a very thoughtful expression on her face. With a mental shrug, he assumed she was just trying to regroup and find a new tactic to squeeze the information from him. He had every confidence that it wouldn't work and so went back to reading his book.

"I don't believe you," she said in that matter-of-fact way she had.

"Then what _will_ you believe?" he queried, his words only half-registering in his mind since the other half busied itself with soaking in the knowledge the book offered.

"The truth," she answered, sounding a bit frustrated. Not good. He'd hoped he could get her riled up enough that she'd want to fight him. That would have definitely given him an excuse to let off some steam.

"What makes you think that none of the answers I just gave you are the truth?"

"You're already a sociopath, so you can't plead itemporary/i insanity and you're the type that thinks things through thoroughly before following through. You aren't the type to have a 'temporary lapse in judgment'."

That made him stop. He clenched the book in his hands for a moment, then forced himself to relax and closed the book with forced gentleness. Looking up, his expression grim, he told her, "Don't try to pretend to understand me, Haruno-san. I can assure you that it's a mistake you'll wish you never made."

She shrugged.

With a shake of his head, he went back to his book, but then wondered why the hell he was putting up with this. It had been three days since Sakura had awoken in his bed and, since then, the little witch hadn't shut up long enough for him to be able to relax except for when he slept. But he never slept well, anyway. With the hopes that it'd scare her enough to make her go away for a while, he said, "You don't seem to understand the fact that I could easily kill you."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," she corrected lightly, smiling oh-so-innocently. How many people had she fooled with that cute little smile while her devil's horns were hidden behind it, he wondered? "But I know that you won't."

He quirked a brow at her.

"You won't because that'd make your whole saving me thing for nothing," she told him, "And, I know you don't want me to act like I understand you, but I really doubt you're the type to waste your efforts so heedlessly. You had a reason for saving me and you're not going to change your mind just because I'm a know-it-all."

Had he mentioned that this woman infuriated him to no end and that she was a little bitch? No? Well, now he had.

"So, feeling talkative now?"

"Not particularly."

"Huh, I'd been certain that was a good strategy, too."

"Guess again."

She sighed, tapping a finger to her chin with thought. Then, she hung her head and admitted, "I've got nothin'."

"Good," he murmured and then, finally, went back to his book.

"So... why don't you take me back to Konoha?"

Oh, for God's sake, was he never going to be able to read?! "Excuse me?"

"Well, all I'm doing is sitting here, bugging you, unable to leave wherever the hell we are," she told him, waving her hand around the library for emphasis, "So, I'm just wondering when you're going to get tired enough of my company that you'll just take me back to Konoha."

"You're not going back to Konoha," he stated.

"Oh?" she asked, a touch of puzzlement in her expression and a lot of reluctance in her voice, "Why not?"

"Once we receive word that the rest of the Akatsuki are finished dealing with Orochimaru, it's very likely that you'll be admitted as a member of the Akatsuki," he told her, watching as her face went from puzzled to surprised to horrified.

She opened to speak, but nothing came out. She did this a few times, making her look like a pink-haired fish with legs. Itachi had thought he'd be happy to see that look on her face, to see her actually struck speechless, but he had to admit, he didn't like it. It tugged at heartstrings he'd thought had long since died and the feeling wasn't exactly comfortable.

"What?" she asked, her voice soft, weak, distant. "What are you saying? I don't understand."

"Pein told me the day before the battle," he explained, suddenly feeling like he owed her an explanation... which was odd since he kept telling her that he owed her nothing. "He said that you weren't allowed to leave, that your alliance to us could never be broken ever again. That you were to be the eleventh member of Akatsuki."

"The eleventh member," she murmured softly, her eyes dazing over. "This... can't be possible."

"To the contrary, it's very possible."

Snapping back to where she was, she said pleadingly, "Please tell me that this is all a joke. That you're only telling me this so as revenge for my annoying you? Please."

"I would, but it'd be a lie. I hate games."

"Then what is this?!"

"The truth," he answered grimly and heard the harsh intake of breath, the sound telling him that Sakura hadn't been expecting that. He wished he could have smirked at the young kunoichi and enjoyed her pain, but he couldn't. What was it with her and bringing out his true character?

And he couldn't even give any serious attempt at hating her.

* * *

A/N: Sounds like Itachi has a bit of a problem, huh?


	15. Afraid of Him

A/N: Internet crashed for a couple minutes. I didn't save what I had so far of this chapter. I was really frustrated. Threw computer across the room. Just kidding. Had to rewrite what I had. Am writing in cut-off sentences to keep frustration from bubbling over the surface. Not kidding. Angry at internet. Read the chapter. Please. ;P

* * *

Since then, Sakura stayed away from Itachi and did whatever she had to do to avoid the man. She had originally intended to tough it out, hang around with Itachi, show him that she wasn't afraid of him and she would mentally hope that he would bring her back to Konoha sooner rather than later, but now... but now she knew that he wouldn't allow her to leave. Ever.

She was scared. She had to escape somehow, but she didn't know how. Upon waking up in this base, Itachi had instructed her that she was not to enter any rooms with closed doors and that it would be pointless to even try because all the closed doors had automatic locks that could only be opened with either Kisame's or his own chakra. She didn't know what lay behind those doors and, for the most part, she didn't want to know, but also put a damper on any escape plans she had in mind. It also didn't help that all the hallways and corridors were identical, so, if she were to know what door led to what, she wouldn't ever find that door again. Not with how many doors and halls there were in this place. How was she ever going to escape when she didn't know where the damn exit was?

That only left two options for her: One, she could wait and pray that Konoha figures out where she was and comes to rescue her. However, there was no plausibility to that one since she didn't even know where she was and she had kept to her promise, not telling Tsunade that the Akatsuki was involved. That brought her to option two: She could find some way to get a letter to Konoha, telling them what was happening and ask to have a search team go out to look for the base. That one had more reason to it, but was much riskier. Either way, the two plans had an equal likelihood of back-firing on her.

Nice. Just perfect.

"Do you plan to leave your room at all, Haruno-san?" she heard his voice outside the door, making her jump.

She turned toward the closed door, wondering whether she should open it, answer him through the door or pretend she was asleep. This late in the day? She looked to the old-fashioned clock hanging on the wall to see the two hands lingering close to the twelve, telling her it was close to noon. No, he knew she was awake and, to pretend to be otherwise, would only make him come in to see if she was alright... or still there.

"I-I doubt it." She hadn't meant for her voice to sound so weak, it just happened and she mentally cursed herself. Great, that was just going to make him even more cocky over his delightful reign of fear over her.

"I suggest you come out and eat something," he said, his tone of voice saying that it was, in fact, not a suggestion but an order. An order that had to be followed unless she wanted consequences. She didn't.

Reluctantly, fearfully, unwillingly, she stood from the bed he'd given her on her first night hear and opened the door to her bedroom a crack so that she could peak back. She could just barely see the man through the crack she'd made and looked just as he always did: His expression blank; his eyes lifeless; his mouth a straight line.

"Must I?" she all but whispered, biting her lower lip.

"You must."

"But I..."

Then, quicker than she could comprehend, the door had been thrown open and he had forced her against a wall, pinning her hands over her head with one of his hands, the other against the wall beside her bed. His expression was grim, his voice low and guttural as he whispered over her lips, "I thought you said that you didn't need to be afraid of me because I can't hurt you? I'm not the type to waste my efforts, right? Where's your confidence now, Haruno-san?"

She tried to free herself, but couldn't manage. His body had her pressed against the wall, making it impossible for her to move except to press herself harder against his chest. She didn't want that, not with how close the man was to kissing her. "I-I'm not afraid," she lied, turning her head to the side so that they weren't eye-to-eye anymore.

"You're a horrible liar," he told her.

She didn't reply or retort. Perhaps when she'd been sure that her safety was guaranteed and that she would go home eventually, she would have made a witty comeback, but not now. Not anymore... because this man was suddenly very dangerous and very attractive.

Her cheeks flared up as the word "attractive" flitted through her mind and she had to close her eyes against the moisture burning her eyes. The attraction to this rogue Uchiha had been immediate, but not so intense so she had thought she could ignore it. But now she knew that it couldn't happen. She was reacting the feel of his hot breath on her cheek and it both scared her senseless and made her want more. To feel his hot mouth over her own, to feel his bare skin against hers.

She both needed him and feared him and that fear only seemed to make that attraction all the more potent. He was seducing her with charm and fear. What a bastard.

"Please, Itachi-san," she whispered, her voice betraying the anxiety and enticement she felt and she could have sworn she heard him chuckle breathily in her ear. She shuddered at the feel and forced back a gasp. Her voice breaking with the inveiglement she felt, she pleaded, "Please, let me go. Please."

"Why would I want to do a thing like that?" he whispered into her ear, licking the shell and chuckling when she reacted with a gasp she couldn't suppress.

"No." She was on the verge of actually crying and she was running out of resolve. Pretty soon, she was going to actually allow him to do what he wanted with her and she would do nothing about it. "No," she whispered again, tears rolling down her cheeks.

At the sight of those tears, the Uchiha tensed, his eyes following the little round balls of moisture as they slipped down her cheeks and then landed silently on her chest. He blinked away his surprise and cleared his throat, letting her go. Stepping away from her, he said, "You shouldn't allow yourself to give way to temptation so easily. Clean yourself up and come to the kitchen for lunch."

With that, he left the room, leaving her to slide down the wall until she was on the floor so that she could bury her face in her hands and cry.

There were only three Uchiha men on this earth and she was attracted to two of them. What a track record those men had.

* * *

A/N: What a track record indeed. Though I doubt she'd be very attracted to Madara because WHOO! He is uuuuuugly!


	16. His FoolProof Plan

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I was really blocked. That's alaso why the chapter's so short. Sorry! n.n"

* * *

If Sakura had been avoiding Itachi before, she was all but denying the man's presence now and it was really beginning to piss him off. Though, nowhere near as much as the idea of it ticking him off was frustrating him. That was really getting at him.

He was not impressed with himself. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting with such consideration for that kunoichi? He had never been the type to care about other people's feelings, but now... when he saw her tears, something inside him had snapped and he found himself feeling guil—

He stopped himself before he had a chance to even fully think the G-word and decided that that particular train of thought was a risky road that he wasn't in the mood to try and ride the whole way down. That annoyed him, too. Who was this girl to invade his thoughts and fill them with uncertainty and angst? Sure, the angst had been there before, but definitely not the uncertainty. Just looking into that kunoichi's eyes made him question every thought he had once been so sure of.

He supposed it was normal for all human beings to feel hesitant from time-to-time, but not for him. Because everybody knew that, for Uchiha Itachi, even just a moment of insecurity was enough for a lifetime.

* * *

Sakura was beginning to doubt herself. She had been so certain before, but now... she had thought that Itachi wouldn't kill her because his saving her would have been a waste. But she hadn't actually thought of him hurting her... and now...

She still shook with fear, remembering that man's lips hovering over her own, feeling his hot tongue on her ear. It scared her so much to think that it could happen again. And what of this whole joining-Akatsuki deal? What if he was going to try and convince her to join by seducing her? What if this was just the beginning? What if he was planning more torture for her?

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. She wasn't going to let it happen next time (if there _was_ a next time), because she would be prepared when it happened again (if it _did_ happen again). She was not going to allow it.

* * *

"Alright, kunoichi," Itachi said, walking into Sakura's room without knocking and pulling off her blankets to see her sleeping form curled on the bed. "Get up," he commanded impatiently and, when she didn't immediately bend to his will, he grabbed her by the waist and hefted her over his shoulder.

"Ah! Hey!" Sakura exclaimed angrily, finally waking up to see what was going on. "Let me down! Itachi! Let me down _now_!"

Itachi only ignored her shouting and her pounding her fists on his back, trying to make him let her go. He walked right into the bathroom and _then _let her down... right into the cold water he'd conveniently drawn just in case the kunoichi bitch forced him into this sort of situation.

She let out a shriek as she fell into the tub and then some gurgled sounds that would have been screams if her head hadn't been submerged under water at the time. When she finally broke the surface of the cold water, she pulled her bangs out of her face and stood up, her eyes wild with fury.

"Who... the fuck... do you think you are!" she howled angrily, stepping out of the tub so that she could properly pound him into dust.

For every step forward she took, Itachi stepped backward, leading them out of the bathroom, down the corridor and so on until they were in the kitchen. Once there, he sat down, crossing his legs and gazed up at the enraged kunoichi with barely veiled amusement. Were his plans fool-proof or what? "Sit," he told her neutrally, folding his hands in his lap, waiting for her to obediently do as she was told.

Sakura blinked, her rage won over by surprise. She reluctantly pulled out a chair and sat down, trying to regain her scowl. "What?" she asked testily, quirking a brow at him.

He simply shrugged and answered, "You've been avoiding me lately, so I decided to take matters into my own hands."

"I had very good reason to be avoiding you."

He nodded. "I also wanted to apologize for my ungentlemanly display before. I had only meant to tease you, but I can see that you hadn't thought it very funny. And, for that, I am sorry."

"You are, huh?" she asked dryly, not convinced. "Since when does Uchiha Itachi apologize?"

"I'm enough of a man to admit when I'm in the wrong."

"Huh," was all she could manage, causing the corners of Itachi's mouth to quirk up in an almost-smirk.

"And I suppose you also wish to discuss your induction into the Akatsuki?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

She nodded, then blurted, "Why me? Why did you choose me?"

"I didn't choose you," he answered with a sigh, "Pein did. I had been completely against the idea, but, unfortunately, the Leader's word is law."

"So... that's not why you saved me?"

He shook his head in the negative. "No."

"Then, why did you—."

He quirked a brow at her.

"Never mind," she muttered, looking away, "You're not going to tell me anyway, so I'm not going to waste my breath."

"Good girl."

* * *

A/N: They're warming up to each other! XD


	17. Giving In To Temptation

A/N: Chapter seventeen! ... And the ending of the first arc. FINALLY! Now, only two more two go! But I'm _pretty_ sure that the story won't end up being sixty chapters long... I did say it would be a long story, but I don't think I want it to be _that_ long!

* * *

Sitting in her room, Sakura wondered what would happen next. She was to become an Akatsuki member, that much was clear, but what about after that? Did she settle down with a nice terrorist husband, have some cute little terrorist babies and live a happy terrorist life like a good little terrorist? No, something about that just didn't feel right. Maybe it was the fact that she just wasn't cut out to be a terrorist? Yeah, that might have something to do with it.

She sighed, falling back onto her bed and covering her face with her pillow. She really did not want to be a terrorist, but, and no matter how much she hated to admit it, she was beginning to warm up to Itachi. Although both he and Sasuke were bad in her books, despite the fact that he was a terrorist, the rogue definitely seemed like the lesser of the two evils. He was more passive and didn't seem as hateful as Sasuke.

And, somehow, she felt like Itachi was beginning to take a shining to her, as well. He didn't entirely ignore her and had even gone so far as to quirk the corners of his lips up into an almost-smile across the table the other night. She had to admit that the memory of it still made her all warm and fuzzy inside.

She tried to tell herself that she could easily walk away from the man if given the chance despite their dawning friendship, but found herself feeling doubtful. Could she really turn her back on a new friend? Even a friend that was a terrorist?

A vision of his lips hoverig over her own popped into her mind and she closed her eyes. Upon further thought, she had realized that she'd reacted so badly because she'd actually _wanted_ him to kiss her. What did it mean?

* * *

Itachi sighed, sitting in the library, flipping through the pages of a book, trying to at least pretend to understand any of the words on the pages. This was the first time in a very long time that he had been distracted by something that he hadn't wanted to distract him. But what could he say? Haruno Sakura wasn't exactly the type to not do things just because they annoyed other people.

He'd learned that the hard way.

He set the book down and leaned his head on the back of his chair, staring up at the stone ceiling. He thought back to when he'd almost kissed her and found that he'd actually seriously considered kissing her. And it hadn't been because he'd just been in the need of a good roll around in the bed. Indeed, it had been a long time since he'd been... intimate... with anybody, but he just found Sakura so...

She wasn't attractive, he knew that much. She annoyed the hell out of him everyday and he always found himself cringing at the sight of that evil smirk. Yes, she was easy on the eyes, but she definitely wasn't the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and he'd need at least five hands to count all the reasons why he should just kill her with his fingers. But, despite all of that, he'd saved her... he'd wanted to kiss her... he _still_ wanted to kiss her.

He wanted to throw her onto his bed, under his sheets and take her right there. If not for the fact that he'd scared her senseless when he hadn't even _kissed_ her yet, he would have. That was why he'd thrown her into the tub. Punishment. It didn't help much, though, he just saw her standing there sopping wet, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide with anger and began to imagine that look on her face not caused my anger but by passion. Lustful passion that would end with him getting to take her... for real.

That had ended up not her punishment, but his punishment instead. That pissed him off beyond words.

He just didn't understand it. How could he possibly be attracted to somebody so unattractive? What did it mean?

Then, it hit him. Why was he acting with such consideration for her? What had happened to the "Look out for number one" motto he'd lived by all these years? He would have taken what he wanted by force by now, so what the hell happened to him?

What the hell was this girl playing at?

* * *

Okay, so Sakura wanted him to kiss her. So, where did she go from there? Did she just go up to him and throw herself at him? Did she ask him to kiss her or did she just deny her urges and act like she couldn't care less?

She didn't much like that idea.

Then, as though answering her prayers, Itachi barged into her room without bothering to knock and glared down at her. She blinked with surprise and sat up, looking into his narrowed Sharingan-clad eyes.

"Itachi?" she murmured and then, as quick as a flash, he ducked down and pinned her to the bed, his lips ravaging hers and she could only lay there, stunned.

He used one hand to hold her hands over her head and used the other one to tangle in the locks of her hair and tug so that her mouth was at the perfect angle for him to properly kiss her the way he wanted to.

At first, she was too surprised to do anything and could only lay there, trying to get her brain to understand just what was going on. Then, when his tongue managed to invade her mouth, she reacted with a soft moan. This seemed to fuel his actions and he let go of her hands so that he could wrap his arms around her. She wrapped her own arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair, her lips as longing and forceful as his were.

When they finally broke the kiss, Itachi's tongue dipped into her ear and she shuddered, letting out another moan. Then, he whispered in her ear, "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Huh...?" she whispered, holding onto him as tightly as her suddenly-weak arms could manage.

"Why should somebody like you make me act like this? Why should a person like you make me want to...?"

"Want to what?"

He simply sighed and returned his lips to hers, the kiss gentle and chaste before he whispered over her lips, "You have to go back to Konoha."

Her eyes, which had been drooping closed with the sensation of the rogue Uchiha's hard, hot and strong body over her own, snapped open and she asked, "Wha...?"

Sitting up, he caressed her cheek gently, then allowed Mangekyou to activate. "You will have pleasant dreams." It hadn't been a wish for her, she noted, but a statement, like he knew and, somehow, she knew what would come next.

Tears welled in her eyes and she opened her mouth to tell him something, but he'd sent her into the depths of his jutsu before she had a chance to summon her voice.

* * *

A/N: And thus ends the first arc! Please review!


	18. This Is Not My Home

A/N: Ladies and gents, welcome to arc number two! XD

* * *

As he headed back to the base, Itachi could feel the lingering warmth of where Sakura had been pressed against him while he'd carried her on his back. It made him feel cold and weary as he trekked through the dense bush, using the moon as his source of light to guide his way.

He was finally rid of the annoying little pest. He had thought that, as soon as he dropped her off on Konoha's doorstep, he would feel liberated, but he just felt isolated and alone... the same way he'd felt before Haruno Sakura had stepped into his life. He tried to tell himself that she was now somewhere where she could be properly taken care of, but that small assurance offered him little comfort. It was hard for him to admit, but he was actually going to... _miss_ her.

He sighed and quickened his pace. He had to get out of Fire country. There was just something about Konoha's overdeveloped sense of patriotism and loyalty to their village that made him want to gag. But he noticed that, the farther he got from Konoha—from Sakura—the worse that sick feeling became.

* * *

"Itachi," she mumbled sleepily, rolling onto her side and curling into a tight ball. "Itachi..."

As her mind slowly drifted toward consciousness, she became aware of the bed underneath her and the blanket over her and she smiled softly. He'd tucked her in. How sweet! But, unfortunately, her mind only became more lucid and the memories began to resurface.

_"You have to go back to Konoha... you will have pleasant dreams. "_ Mangekyou, then nothing.

Her smile fell and, although she wasn't conscious enough to open her eyes, she was enough to move one of her hands to the other arm and feel the IV there. That was when her eyes shot open and she shot up with a jolt. "I-Itachi...?" But she didn't find the rogue Uchiha... she wasn't even in her room in the base. She was in a hospital room.

A Goddamn hospital room!

Tears welled in her eyes as she took in her surroundings. The familiarity of the room told her that she was in the Konoha infimrary and the realization made her angry. Because he hadn't even let her say goodbye... because she was never going to see him again.

She heard the sound of the door being opened and her heart raced hopefully. What if he came back for her?! But Tsunade walked in and her heart calmed with disappointment. Of course he wouldn't come back for her. It would have been a waste of his efforts to bring her here in the first place.

And everybody knew that Uchiha Itachi was not the type to waste his efforts so heedlessly.

The blond Hokage walked into the room, a tote bag hanging in the crook of one arm. She sat in the chair beside her bed and simply stared at her for a few moments. Then, she finally spoke up, "We were all scared you wouldn't make it. Your pupils wouldn't dilate while you were unconscious and you wouldn't respond to anything. If it weren't for your heartbeat, we would have thought you were dead."

Sakura stared down at her hands folded neatly in her lap and thought about this. She asked, "How did I get here?"

"I'd hoped you could've answered that for me," Tsunade answered with a shake of her head, "The chuunin that had been guarding the village gates had apparently blacked out for a few seconds and, when they came to, they found you asleep right in front of the entrance wrapped in this..." She went into the tote and pulled out a large piece of fabric with sleeves. The black fabric with red clouds embroidered on it told her that it was an Akatsuki cloak.

_Itachi..._

"What happened at the Fire country border?" the blond asked, "We were alerted about the explosion and when we never received word from you, we assumed you were dead."

"The explosion had been meant to catch Orochimaru off guard."

"And...?"

"It worked."

"Why didn't you come straight home?"

_Home_... the word felt hollow. This place no longer felt like home. She wasn't sure whether it was because she'd gotten used to the Akatsuki base or because Itachi wasn't here with her.

"I... got caught up in something else."

"With the Akatsuki?"

She didn't answer.

"And you escaped?"

Again, she didn't answer.

Tsunade sighed. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be interrogating you the moment you wake up anyway. But I expect a detailed report on my desk in no more than a week, alright?"

She nodded.

"We searched all the pockets of the cloak, but just found this piece of paper. Does it mean anything to you?

Sakura took the small slip of paper and read what it said. A small smile took the place of the straight line that had been her mouth. _Everything happens for a reason and so no effort is a waste._

"Would you like me to have somebody dispose of the cloak?"

"No," she answered a little too quickly, "I want to keep it."

The blond gave Sakura an odd look, but draped the cloak over her student's lap anyway. Then, with that done, she left without another word. Once she was sure Tsunade was gone, she brought the cloak to her face and inhaled. She sighed. It smelled of him.

Laying back down, she pulled the cloak over herself so that she was enveloped in the scent and drifted back into sleep.

Without even realizing it, as soon as Itachi returned to the base, he headed straight for the room Sakura had stayed in. When he finally realized what he was doing, he was sitting on her bed and gently running his hand over the spot where she had been when he kissed her.

He stood abruptly, feeling foolish, and stalked out of the room, shutting the door behind himself. What the hell was he thinking?!

He was rid of her! So... why did the base suddenly feel so cold and empty without her there to light of the place with her smile? Why did this place, which had once been his only place of comfort, suddenly feel so lifeless? It felt as thoug this wasn't his home anymore.

His home was now with Sakura...

* * *

A/N: Too corny? T-T


	19. Get Her Back

A/N: Yay! Chapter 19! Will this story ever end? Well, okay, I did warn you guys that this would be a long story, but I hadn't been expecting it to be this long... I mean, I'm going to be starting chapter twenty and there'll still be quite a few chaps left. O.o"

* * *

Sakura was discharged the next day. Apparently, after a few X-rays, some blood tests and checking her vitals, they were able to conclude that she was in perfect health, but they had chosen to keep her overnight anyway because they had wanted to figure out what had made her remain unconscious for three days and nights.

That had surprised her. It had felt like mere moments had passed while she was dreaming of kissing Itachi, of holding him, of keeping him for the night. It had certainly not felt like enough time and to hear that three whole days had been lost to such a short dream made her feel depressed.

But she was out now and she would pick up the pieces of the life Uchiha Itachi had changed so abruptly and she would start again. She would, once again, be a kunoichi of the Leaf and Itachi would be, though she was sad to think of it, her enemy... the man she had to kill at all cost no matter how many times his kisses and embraces plagued her mind.

As soon as she got into her small apartment overlooking the small park filled with sakura trees, she fell onto her couch and set the plastic bag Tsunade had given her onto the floor. She closed her eyes for a few moments, mustering up her courage, and she went into the bag and pulled out the cloak. She held it under her nose and took a deep breath in and sighed; it still smelled of him, but faintly. She had slept cuddling with it the night before and now it was beginning to smell less like Itachi and more like herself.

She held the cloak tightly to her chest and bit her lower lip, trying to keep the memory of him ingrained in her mind. She didn't want to forget him and she didn't ever want to forget the sensation and the feeling of longing his kisses had produced inside her. It was stronger than anything she'd ever felt, even the feelings she'd had for Sasuke paled in comparison.

"Itachi," she whispered to the emty room, wishing that her voice could reach him somehow, "I miss you."

_

* * *

_

Itachi... I miss you...

These were the words Itachi awoke to, the soft, desperate voice of a certain pink-haired kunoichi of the Leaf ringing in his mind.

He looked around the room, bleary-eyed and -minded to find that he was in the room that Sakura had inhabited during her stay in the Uchiha compound. Odd, he could have sworn that he'd gone to his own room last night... but, then again, he'd been so drunk he was surprised he hadn't just passed out in the kitchen.

He sighed, closing his eyes against the sight of the room that reminded him of just how weak he'd become and willed himself to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the knowledge that he would be meeting with Pein later on and that he would have a helluva time explaining to him that he'd let Sakura go kept him awake.

Great, he'd both shown his real feelings to the worst person possible and now the mistake would probably cost him his life. _Nail-in-the-head, here I come._

"Uchiha!" And, as though summoned by his own self-pitying thoughts, he heard the voice of the man he wanted to see the least. He winced, but not only because of the pounding the male's sharp voice produced in his head, and tried to bury himself under the sheets that smelled so much like _her_. "Uchiha! Get out here right now!"

It would seem that Pein had read the note he'd left on the kitchen table before he'd drunk himself into a stupor that led him to this room—to _her_ room. He buried himself deeper under the covers. Then, he wondered what the hell he was doing, hiding like a fearful child. Dear God, what had Sakura done to him, take away his dignity and manhood?

Then again, she _was_ a Konoha shinobi, he wouldn't put it passed her.

He heard the sound of doors being thrown open and muttered grumblings of curses under Pein's breath followed by the loud, quick-paced echoes of his shoes slapping the floor with his fury. It made him just want to disappear. But he knew that it would be much safer if he went to Pein instead of Pein finding him... he just couldn't bring himself to pull himself away from Sakura's scent.

Oh, Lord, when had he gotten so weak? Forcing himself up, he jumped out of the bed and rushed out of the room just as Pein was about to kick the door open. "Sir?" he said, standing at attention, trying to make sure that the affects of his hungover-ness didn't leak through.

Pein stood in front of him, so close that his breath hit Itachi's face in harsh bursts that revealed his most-likely-untameable anger. He raised one hand, the note clenched in it and waved it under Itachi's nose. "What the hell _is_ this?" he asked coldly, "You let her _escape_? Are you seriously incapable of carrying out even the most simplest of missions?"

"Begging your forgiveness, Sir," the Uchiha said softly. It definitely wasn't the most original or heartfelt apology, but it was a lot better than saying, "Please don't shove a nail in my skull."

"You can't capture the Jinchuuriki for the life of you, you can't hold onto _one kunoichi_ for a couple of weeks while we finish cleaning up the mess after interrogating Orochimaru," he all but roared, "Please, remind me why I even admitted you into the Akatsuki because I would really like to know!"

"I killed the Uchiha clan," he reminded his superior pitifully.

"Yes, you did! And, if I recall correctly, that was the last thing you _ever_ did right! Now why don't you try telling me why I shouldn't kill you right now!"

"Because that would make your admitting me into the Akatsuki a waste of effort?"

Pein fell silent at that. His brow knit together and he asked, "Are you serious? That's your answer?"

Itachi nodded.

"You never cease to amaze me," the orange-haired Akatsuki leader said, his anger apparently gone, and patted him on the shoulder before leaving. "I'll let you live... but get her back."

When Pein disappeared around the corner into the kitchen, Itachi leaned against the wall and sighed. Okay, so Sakura had gotten him out of that jam. Fine. He just wouldn't allow her to ever know that... if he ever saw her again, that was. Which was something he wasn't planning on doing anytime in the near future.

"Get her back!" Pein roared, as though reading his thoughts before slamming the base's door shut, leaving Itachi alone again.

_Shit..._

* * *

A/N: Poor Ita-kun... NOT! XD Now there's bound to be more ItaSaku in the near future! Wootage!


	20. Pray For Me

A/N: Phew! I thought I wouldn't have been able to update on time! o.o I've been so blocked and then... poof! Inspiration came... XD Thank you, Inspiration!

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing the door to Sakura's apartment open and rushing into the room to throw his arms around the kunoichi, "You're back! You're alive! You're okay!"

"Uh... yeah?" She bit her tongue to keep herself from saying, "Define 'okay'."

Holding her even tighter, the blond said, "Baa-chan told me about how you were held captive by the Akatsuki! I'd been so scared that you would be really badly hurt, but, when she said that you were fine, I wanted to go see you right away, but the old bag wouldn't let me! Then, you were discharged and she didn't tell me! I swear, when I become Hokage, I'm going to give Ero-Sannin a wedding certificate for them. That'd put the old witch in her place."

"Uh... huh." Actually, Sakura had been thankful for that. She'd needed the first few days to regain her bearings and get herself used to being back in Konoha. She'd used the time to write the report on her mission and to reflect on all that had gone on and find some sort of understanding of just what happened. Unfortunately, she hadn't found it. She only found that there was only person who could give her those answers and that was Uchiha Itachi himself.

"Those bastards didn't hurt you, did they?" Naruto asked, pulling her out of her thoughts, "The Akatsuki, I mean. Those guys are some hardcore bad guys."

She shook her head. "They... were..." What could she say that didn't reveal too much? She had been completely vague about her stay in the Akatsuki base in her report and certainly hadn't brought up the events that had led to Itachi's abandoning her. So... what did she say to this particular question? She couldn't honestly say that Itachi hadn't hurt her, but it wasn't honest to say that he'd been cruel to her, either. "They... didn't leave any permanent damage." Not a complete lie. There was no permanent _physical_ damage.

"Did they touch you? Even lay a single finger on you?"

Okay, now _that_ was a hard question to answer. "Well..."

Silence. Lots of silence. Then, Naruto finally let go of her, shouting, "I'll kill them!"

"Th-That's not really necessary," she objected softly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "There's no reason for you to go out looking for trouble. That's a good way to get yourself killed."

But Naruto wasn't listening. "They can mess with me, they can mess with Kyuubi, but they will not mess with my friends!"

Sakura sighed and sat back down. "Seriously, Naruto, don't make such a big deal about this. I'm pretty sure I made it so that Itachi never wants to set foot near Konoha again, anyway."

The blond blinked with surprise, then he smirked. "You hurt him back, then? That's my Sakura-chan! Good job!"

She rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch, wanting to take out the cloak and hold it. It seemed to be her security blanket now and, with Naruto talking about these things that she really didn't want to talk about, she needed its comfort, but she didn't dare pull it out in front of Naruto. That would just stir a lot of unwanted questions that she would much rather avoid.

And he was already asking too many questions.

* * *

"I wonder if he's thinking of me right now," Sakura murmured into the Akatsuki cloak, holding it closer. She sighed and buried her face in it. The smell of Itachi had long since given way to her own scent, but she still felt comforted when she held it.

Naruto had just left and, upon him shutting the door, she had immediately gone to her bed to cuddle with the cloak. All of his questions, mainly about the involvement of the Akatsuki, had been nothing short of exhausting and she had wanted nothing more than to bury herself in her cloak and pretend that she was back with Itachi.

And now... now she was just depressed. She missed him so much. She wanted to see him, to ask him all of those questions he had always left unanswered. Why had he saved her? Why did he kiss her? Why had he abandoned her, wrapped in his cloak? Was he just messing with her mind? The thought hurt to even comprehend.

"Sakura."

She gasped and turned to see Sasuke standing in her bedroom doorway, his face expressionless. She quickly kicked off the cloak and let it fall to the floor out of the Uchiha's line of vision. "S-Sasuke! I... I never heard you come in."

"Naruto said that you were out of the hospital, so I thought I'd come check on you. When you didn't answer my knocking, I let myself in."

"Why did you want to check on me?" she asked, her brow knitting together with confusion.

"What do you mean, _why_?" he asked sharply, looking a little offended, "Am I not allowed to worry about you?"

"_Worry_ about me?" she shot back, "Last time we spoke to each other, you said that you hated me!"

It looked like he had been about to yell at her, but then his eyes fell to where the cloak had once been and he paused. "That was an _Akatsuki _cloak, wasn't it?" he asked with a quirk of his brow.

She nodded reuctantly.

"So Naruto told the truth then," he murmured under his breath. His eyes lifted to her face and he smirked a smirk that sent Sakura's blood running cold. He activated Sharingan and started toward her, licking his lips.

Sakura's eyes widened and she could only utter a single word as though it were a prayer: "Itachi."

* * *

Meanwhile, Itachi felt a niggling feeling at the back of his mind as he was heading in the direction of Konoha. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, knowing exactly why he was getting this bad feeling. And he could only utter one word as though it were a prayer: "Sakura."

* * *

A/N: I love the ending, but the beginning... er, not so much. T.T Hope you enjoyed it, though! XD


	21. Protecting Her

A/N: Next chap! Now, I'll warn you, this chapter is not for little kiddies, so, if you don't _likey_ teh foreplay, then don't **ready** teh foreplay!

* * *

Sakura stared into the depths of Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan, her brow furrowed in something between worry and confusion. How could this be? How could Sasuke have Mangekyou? When did he get it? _How_ did he get it? "S-Sa..."

And then the Mangekyou began to turn and she was swept away...

* * *

Sakura stood in an open field, her arms wrapped around herself and her upper jaw biting down on her lower lip. Where was she? What happened? How did she get here? Oh, she had never yearned for her cloak more than she did now.

And then a figure began to materialize before her and she watched with narrowed eyes, trying to decipher who it was that was slowly appearing through thin air. "Sasuke?"

There was a liquid smooth chuckle and her blood ran cold. Her chin quivered, tears welled in her eyes and, as the figure became fully visible, her knees grew weak, making her fall to the ground. She stared up at the man, a look of disbelief on her face as she whispered, "Itachi..."

He smiled down at her and nodded. "Indeed." He began to walk forward and Sakura found that she was afraid to even blink her eyes or risk the mirage disappearing.

She hadn't seen him for a week and she had missed him like crazy. Even if this was Sasuke Tsukuyomi, she didn't want it to end. She wanted to look upon him and she wanted to kiss him... even if it was all fake.

He stopped right in front of her, his head tilted down so that he could look down upon her. Then, he knelt and caressed her cheek, chuckling when she leaned into the request. "I want you to think very hard, Sakura. Remember where the base is."

"But why?" she asked, raising a hand to place it over his. "Don't you know where it is?"

He nodded. "But I need you to remember," he whispered with a devious smirk, as though they were sharing a secret. "Just think about the base and where it is, okay? All you have to do is remember it and then you'll be there with me."

"But... I don't know where it is," she reminded him, "You never took me out of the base and, when you did, I was unconscious. I don't know."

His eyes narrowed on her and she winced. She'd made him angry. That was the last thing she'd wanted to do. "You're telling the truth," he murmured and that only seemed to make him angry.

She shook her head, not knowing what to say, and launched herself upward to wrap her arms around him. "Don't leave me," she whispered, "Not again. Please, don't leave me!"

But, after a few moments, he disappeared and she fell to the ground. Show was alone. Again. She curled into a ball on the ground and sobbed. "Itachi!" she cried. "Come back!"

* * *

"Itachi! Come back!"

As Itachi looked through Sakura's bedroom window, he watched as Sakura burst out into tears and screamed his name. His jaw clenched when he saw Sasuke's mouth quirk up in a wicked smirk, obviously amused by her pain, and he just wanted to break through the window and ring the bastard's neck.

Then, his younger brother closed his eyes and opened them again, his Mangekyou-clad eyes spinning again. He tilted her chin up so that they were looking into each other's eyes and her eyes, once again, dazed over.

"I-Itachi?" she asked, looking at Sasuke with wonder. "You're... here. You're really here."

That set him right off. Sasuke was putting a genjutsu over her so that she would think he was Itachi and... he could only imagine what he would do next.

"You don't want me to leave again, do you?" Sasuke asked, the hand that had been at her cheek brushing against her cheek, then trailing down her neck until he reached the collar of her shirt. His hand slipped under the fabric and Itachi growled angrily.

Sakura shuddered and moaned, her back arching into the caress. "Itachi..."

Sasuke chuckled. "Then, let's do it. Right now. If we do it, then I'll stay."

Itachi froze. What...? His little brother was pretending to be him... so that he could get into Sakura's pants? That made no sense. What was that bastard planning?

But, when he brought his lips to hers in a deep kiss that sent Itachi's blood boiling, he decided that he wasn't going to wait around to find out. So, he did what he had originally wanted to do and smashed through the window to ring his younger brother's neck.

Sasuke whipped around to look at him, but Sakura simply wrapped har arms around him and buried her face in his neck as though nothing had just happened. The younger Uchiha's eyes narrowed and his lips curled back into something between a smirk and a snarl as he eyed his elder brother. "So, I was right."

Itachi didn't even reply. He hadn't heard the words, nor did he care. His eyes were locked on Sakura who was currently straddling Sasuke's waist and planting kisses anywhere her lips could reach.

Oh, yeah, she was under a genjutsu alright. Her eyes were half-lidded, so it was hard to tell, but Itachi could see that her pupils had contracted so much that there was no longer any sign of black her green eyes. Though what she was doing to Sasuke seemed to be done naturally when looked upon by the naked eye, Itachi saw the tenseness of her body and the way her fingers had formed makeshift claws, digging into his back. She definitely did not have free will in this case.

"Let her go," he growled, trying to keep his composure. If Sasuke saw how angry he was becoming, that would only make him feel good about himself and make him want to prolong Sakura's torture.

Sasuke smirked wider and once again began to play with one of Sakura's breasts, receiving a long, drawn-out, breathless moan from said kunoichi. Her back arched again and her eyes drooped closed as she gasped with every brush of Sasuke's finger over the sensitive area.

"Itachi," she moaned again and started to nibble on his ear.

"Let... her... go," Itachi ground out, "I don't have any wish to kill you at the moment, but if you carry this on, I might have to."

That just made Sasuke burst out laughing. It was harsh and a bit crazed and didn't do much for Itachi's impatience. He closed his eyes against the sight, trying to keep himself neutral so that he could figure out the best way of going about this situation, but his skin continued to crawl and his hands clenched into fists against his will.

"Do you want me?" he heard Sasuke ask softly and then Sakura gasped.

Itachi's eyes shot open to see Sakura laying on her back on the bed while Sasuke loomed over her. That did it. Itachi lunged for Sasuke and managed to push him off of the bed. He pinned his little brother on the floor and held him down with a firm hand to his throat. "I warned you," he growled into the other man's ear, smirking angrily, "And now you're going to die."

* * *

A/N: There was a whole other scene I was going to add into this chapter, but I'm going to save it for the next one becuse I don't want the story getting all rushed.


	22. The Look In His Eye

A/N: Dun duh-duh-duh! IT'S SUPER WEASEL TO THE RESCUE!!!

* * *

Sakura's eyes fluttered open when she heard a loud thud and she wondered what was going on. She'd been having a wonderful dream where she and Itachi had been about to make love and, since the thud had woke her up, she was in a particularly bad mood.

She sat up, her body feeling heavy with weariness and an odd feeling in her lower region. She sighed. It seemed that the pleasure her dream-Itachi had given her had followed her into reality.

Great, now what was she going to do with it?

Then she remembered that there had been a thud and she poked her head over the edge of her bed to find Sasuke on the ground, his eyes bulging dangerously out of their sockets while Itachi straddled his waist and strangled him, whispering curses into his younger brother's ear.

"I-Itachi?" she stammered. "I... thought... but, weren't you in my dream?" With her mind still fogged with weariness and lust, she asked, "Did _you_ follow me out of my dream, too?"

Itachi sat up, dropping his hold around Sasuke's neck to look up at her. "Are you alright?"

She blushed, noticing that the feeling inside of her only got worse with Itachi's intense gaze on her. "Define 'alright'," she mumbled softly, looking away from him.

"You should get out of here," he informed her, "I'm sure that every shinobi in the area is going to come running to see who broke into your apartment and I can imagine that you wouldn't want to be caught in a situation like this."

"But..." _But, if I leave, how will I know that I'll see you again?_

"Go into the park over there," he commanded gently, jerking his head to the park outside her window, "Once I'm done here, I'll come get you."

"But Sasuke—"

"Deserves to die," he interjected firmly. "Now go."

She reluctantly nodded and slid to the edge of the bed before getting off. With wobbly legs, she walked out of the room and out of her apartment. What had happened? Why were Sasuke and Itachi fighting in her bedroom? Why was Itachi in Konoha in the first place?

Then it all came back to her: Sasuke sneaking up on her; his Mangekyou spinning; the way he'd licked his lips as he approached her. He'd put a Genjutsu on her? And so, when she thought she'd been doing all those things to Itachi...

"Oh, my God," she whispered, her already weak knees buckling as she fell on the grass of the park. She'd nearly had sex with Sasuke? Gross! And Itachi had seen her like that? He'd seen her doing those indecent acts? "Oh, God."

Then, a hand appeared on her shoulder and she whirled around to look up at the person only to see Itachi. His expression was a little too neutral for her liking considering how he'd just saved her from going all the way and then some with Sasuke. But still, she found comfort in looking into his familiar face... the face she'd dreamed of for the past week.

"Itachi," she murmured.

He knelt before her so that they were at eye level and placed his other hand on her other shoulder. "Come back with me."

She blinked uncomprehendingly, trying to understand what it was he'd just said and then, once the meaning behind his words struck, her face paled and her mouth went dry. "But... you were the one to bring me back here," she reminded him and then grumbled, "Against my will, by the way."

"I did that for your good, not mine," he informed her, "But I am here for my benefit right now and so... come back."

Sakura had to admit that she was tempted. She had dreamed of this man coming back for her, but she hadn't actually expected him to. And now that he was here... she had to make the hardest decision of her life. Go with her heart and leave with Itachi for the Akatsuki, or follow her common sense and remain in Konoha. She couldn't decide and so she reached up and grabbed fistfuls of the man's (new) cloak. "Kiss me," she whispered.

An odd glint passed over the man's eyes before he relinquished his hold on her shoulders to place them over her hands and lessen her grip. Once her grip was loosened enough, he gently placed a kiss as light as a butterfly's wings on her knuckles. Then, he leaned down and placed his lips over her own.

Her reaction was immediate. Her arms snaked around his neck to tug at his hair and deepen the kiss. His arms moved around her waist to pull her firmly against his chest and she moaned in appreciation.

She mentally noted that the kisses she had gotten from Sasuke while she'd thought he was Itachi could not compare to the real thing. There was absolutely no contest and so, when his tongue forced its way into her mouth, she went with the flow and rasped her own tongue along his.

When they parted in need of air, she placed her forehead on his chest right above his heart and bit her lower lip. "I can't."

He tensed for only a moment and then he relaxed and asked easily, "Why?"

"I belong here," she told him, "I-I... I think I may be falling in love with you and, no matter how much I want to be by your side, I can't be. You and I were never meant to be."

"Everything happens for a reason," he reminded her.

"But, sometimes, those reasons just aren't good enough," she countered, "Not when you're facing it in the mindset of what's right and what's wrong."

"That's relative. Your version of right and wrong does not have to be the same as Konoha's."

"But it is," she told him, sitting back on her legs and looking him in the eye, "It would be betraying every moral and virtue I grew up with and... I just can't do that. It would be like my asking you to come back to Konoha."

"They would kill me."

"Just as having to fight against my family and friends would kill me."

He sighed softly and gave her one last kiss on the forehead before standing.

"W-Will I see you again?" she asked, looking up at him sadly.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully and then ran off just in time for several shinobi to emerge from her apartment. "Haruno-san!" they were shouting, "Haruno-san, are you okay?"

She hung her head a few moments and then stood and turned to her comrades. "I'm fine. Did you find Sasuke?"

One of them nodded. "Yeah. You sure did a number on him, you know, he looks like he was beaten within an inch of his life. You're cruel when you want to be."

She smiled sadly, tears welling in her eyes and spilling over. She closed her eyes and nodded. "I know."

* * *

A/N: Aww, poor Saku-chan. Poor Ita-kun. :(


	23. Caring or Manipulation

A/N: Okay, chapter 23. We're getting closer to the climax! XD And I even planned it all out! But I don't know how many chapters it'll take. But there aren't too-too many to go.

* * *

Sakura sat in the chair in front of Tsunade's desk, staring at the floor silently while Tsunade eyed her expectantly. She knew she owed her Shishou an explanation and that the blond shouldn't have to ask for it, but she couldn't bring herself to break the tense silence pervading the room.

Then, finally, the blond Hokage spoke up. "You've been acting very oddly since your mission to the Fire country border, Sakura."

Sakura nodded. "I know."

"And I couldn't help but notice that you never gave a single detail about your time in the Akatsuki base in your mission report," her Shishou continued, "And that cloak... you seem much too reluctant to part with it."

Sakura nodded again. "I know."

"And now Sasuke is breaking into your apartment and, when he comes to, claims that it was _Itachi _who beat him to a bloody pulp?" the blond asked with a tone of incredulity, "This is all becoming very confusing and I believe that the truth is long-since due."

The pink-haired kunoichi, once again, nodded. "I know."

Sitting back in her chair, the blond Hokage made a steeple with her fingers and told her, "You may begin when you're ready."

With a sigh, she admitted, "I-I fell in love... with Itachi."

She had known that her shishou wouldn't be expecting that, but she hadn't expected the blond to actually fall out of her chair at the announcement. She bit her lower lip and wrung her hands as the blond pulled herself back into the chair and patted down her frazzled hair. After clearing her throat, she said in as calm a voice as she could manage, "Explain, please."

"Upon getting to the Fire country border, I was approached by Itachi who demanded that we work together to defeat Orochimaru," she began, "After a few days and a lot of prodding, I agreed and he took me to meet the Akatsuki. Not long afterward, we found out that the leader of the base was actually Orochimaru in disguise and we all battled.

"Th-Then... I-I remember... being so tired," she continued, her brow knitting together with concentration as she forced herself to remember all that had happened that night, "And Itachi was surrounded and I had this instinctual feeling that I had to save him no matter the cost. But he came to me... he whisked me away just in time as the entire base exploded. He saved me."

"He _saved _you?" Tsunade asked incredulously.

"I know," Sakura said with a shake of her head, "It was hard for me to believe to. So, I asked him why he saved me, but he always refused to answer me and, when he did answer, it was always the most outrageous answer that was obviously not true.

"Then, he told me about the Akatsuki leader's plans to have me inducted into the organization and things started to spiral downward. I started avoiding Itachi and that made him angry... so some things happened and then I began to realize that I was a bit attracted to him. He kissed me a few times, then put me under Mangekyou and abandoned me at the village gates."

"He let you go freely," the Hokage murmured with awe. "But... why?"

"He told me it was for my own good."

"When?"

"A few hours ago."

"So, he _was_ here? And he _did _beat Sasuke up?"

"Only because Sasuke tried to hurt me."

"Okay, _that's_ believable."

"I know it's really..." she paused, trying to find the right way of putting it, "It's really hard to believe, but I saw him in a different light when I was with him. Maybe he's not as bad as everybody let's on?"

Tsunade only stared blankly. "He's behind the Uchiha massacre, Sakura. He's killed so many innocent people that he doesn't even blink at the sight of bloodshed. There is no more humanity inside him anymore."

"But he saved _me_! If there was absolutely no good inside of him anymore, he would have just let me stay there and die. If there was no good inside of him, he wouldn't have saved me from Sasuke. He wouldn't have cared, but he does and that's the point I'm trying to get across to you!"

"He never does something for nothing," the Hokage told her, "He obviously wanted something back from you and he intends to get it. That's not caring; that's manipulation."

Sakura wanted to scream at her shishou not to act as if she knew him and she wanted to find some way to prove the man's selflessness toward her, but she knew that there was no point. Tsunade would not be convinced. Oh, no, not the cynic of all cynics.

"So," the blond asked on a sigh, "What happens now?"

"What do you mean?" The kunoichi winced at the coldness in her own voice and bit her lower lip.

"You're in love with Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke seems to dislike you a great deal, you're carrying a terrorist's cloak around like a security blanket and that terrorist is making trips into the village to see you. What are we going to do about this?"

Sakura sighed. "I know what you want me to say, but I can't go along with a plan that would hurt Itachi. I love him."

It was Tsunade's turn to sigh. "He's a murderer, Sakura."

"So are you. And so am I," she said, "I killed Sasori, I nearly killed Sasuke, I've taken lives before and so have you. So you have no room to judge him because he's killed people."

"That's completely different and you know it."

"And still don't care."

With a roll of her eyes, Tsunade waved Sakura away and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Give me some time to think on this and then I'll talk to you. I don't think my brain can handle all of this craziness in such a short period of time. I'll send for you."

Without another word, Sakura stood and left the office, slamming the door on her way out. Things would have been easier if she'd gone with Itachi, but since when was the right thing to do ever the easy thing, also?

Oh, that's right, never.

* * *

A/N: I know this from experience... n.n;


	24. An Ultimatum For His Freedom

A/N: Next chapter X3 This one jumps back and forth between Itachi's and Sakura's POV, but I have a feeling that this chapter will define all the upcoming chapters. n.n

* * *

Itachi sat in one of the kitchen chairs directly opposite from the Akatsuki leader and forced himself to keep eye contact with him. It was hard, though, considering he was forcing himself to stare into eyes that were dark with fury. Pein was not at all happy that he'd come back empty-handed.

"I plan to bring her back," the Uchiha broke the tense silence, "There were just complications this time."

"There are _always _complications, Uchiha," Pein told him impatiently, a sarcastic edge to his voice, "Your job is to work _through _those complications and get the goddamned job done!"

Itachi pursed his lips against a remark and simply nodded. "Right." He didn't dare tell Pein that it had been his own weakness that had stopped him from taking Sakura back with him. He didn't dare admit, even to himself, that he couldn't bring himself to cause that one particular person the pain of stripping her of her home, family and friends. He refused to allow himself to acknowledge the weakness this one girl had given him... the weakness of love.

And love _was_ a weakness. Konoha had gone around spreading their tales of truth and love and freedom and look at them now. They couldn't even keep him from entering the village if he walked by with a neon sign on his head. But, then again, the Uchiha clan had been quite the opposite and he'd slaughtered them in a matter of a few hours.

He had been quite prepared to have a mental debate on this one when Pein's voice broke through his thoughts and startled him back to the present.

"I have given you several chances," he told the Uchiha through a clenched jaw. "I have exceeded any amount of patience I should have ever given you and you continue to try me. You sit here and you tell me that you'll bring her here, but you're going to say that the next time and the time after that and after that."

Itachi didn't like where this was going. This was going from 'Nail-in-the-head' talk to 'If-you-want-a-job-done-right...' talk. And that kind of talk wasn't exactly a reassurance.

"I assure you, Sir—"

"I've heard enough of your promises and your assurances," the Akatsuki leader interrupted impatiently, "You will accompany me to Konoha where _I_ will retrieve the kunoichi, we'll all come back here where we'll throw a great big party ending with your expulsion from the Akatsuki."

"But, Sir—"

"I do not want to hear any complaints," he cut in again, "You are out of the Akatsuki and that's all I have to say on the matter."

Actually, he hadn't been about to complain about that. He'd merely sought to try and convince him that Sakura would make a horrible Akatsuki member, mainly because she wasn't even bad-natured let alone missing-nin material. But he knew the truth. He just didn't want the girl to be unhappy. There! He'd said it! He wanted to keep her happy!

"We leave in half-an-hour, I suggest you get ready for the task at hand."

_Fuck..._

* * *

So, Sakura returned to Tsunade's office when summoned, prepared for an onslaught of How-stupid-can-you-be's and I-expected-more-from-you's. Instead, she went into the office to be greeted with a smiling Tsunade.

Pausing in the doorway, the pink-haired kunoichi wondered whether she should just step back into the hallway, close the door on the way out and run for her life and Itachi's while she had the chance. But then she figured that, if she did that, it wouldn't be running from whatever Tsunade had tucked into her sleeve; it would just pop out of nowhere and shout "Here I am!"

She decided that the latter was more probable and so she took the few steps into the office and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. She eyed her shishou suspiciously while she asked, "Why the sudden change in expression?"

"I've come up with a solution that we can both agree on," the blond answered, looking oh-so-proud of herself.

"Oh?"

"If you can give me some solid evidence that Itachi is not a bad guy," she told her student, "I won't only permit you to see him, but, if the evidence is substatial enough, I'll even allow him to come back."

"So that Sasuke can kill him," Sakura added dryly.

"Actually, I had him arrested. His attacking you proved that he wasn't willing to be loyal to our village and have respect for our villagers, so he'll be executed."

"So, what you're telling me is that you'd kill Sasuke and let Itachi come and live in Konoha?"

"Only if the evidence is substantial enough and has no blank spots in it. If there are things that can disprove your evidence, then the deal is off. And, of course, there'll be a time limit. If you can't find any evidence or the evidence is flawed in a week's time, the deal is off."

Sakura smiled happily and nodded. "Of course, Shishou, I'll start on it immediately."

Tsunade nodded. "Get on it."

Sakura stood and was about to open the door when the blond stopped her, saying, "Oh, and Sakura? This is a bet that I'm sure I'll win. Itachi is bad news, so, feel free to use any of the records in Hokage Tower. I'm sure there won't be much there."

"Thanks for the tip," the kunoichi replied dryly and left the office to head into the records department.

* * *

"Any funny business and I'll kill you on the spot," Pein warned as he and Itachi left the base to head toward Konoha, "I do not suggest you test my patience at this point."

"Yes, Sir," the rogue Uchiha grumbled, shouldering his rucksack and following Pein as he ran into the trees. He just hoped that Sakura would be able to defend herself.

* * *

A/N: Most of you should know the truth of the Uchiha massacre by now, so I have a feeling you know what's coming next XD


	25. I Refuse

"... R... S... T..." Sakura murmured to herself as she flipped through the records of past missions, searching for the U's in Hokage Tower's filing cabinet so that she could look through the mission reports Itachi had written in search of any clues. "U... ah-ha!" she exclaimed triumphantly when she came upon the folder stuffed with completed mission assignments and reports.

She immediately shoved the filing cabinet's drawer shut with her elbow and sat on the floor to begin scouring the folder for any signs leading in the direction of any kindness in his heart. The first thing she saw upon opening the cover of the folder was the picture that would have, no doubt, been on his shinobi passport and any of his ID.

She smiled softly at the sight of him. He was in full ANBU uniform, omitting only the mask, and he had a grim expression on his face, but she couldn't help but notice the gleam in his eye. His eyes weren't as cold and calculating as they would be years later and, most of all, he didn't have his ever-present Sharingan activated. The hitae-ate had a few small scratches on it, but was virtually unmarred. There definitely wasn't the long gash that was struck through the leaf symbol now.

She decided she liked seeing him this way and resolved to make sure that she could see him now like he had been when this picture had been taken. So, for added encouragement (and she was sticking to that story, dammit!), she snuck the picture into her bag and went back to searching.

There were several reports written in Itachi's elegant hand-writing, each of them ending with the sentence, "The mission was an overall success". The dates on them showed missions from almost eleven years ago and she was surprised to see that Itachi had had such dangerous missions at such a young age.

Then, she saw the date that had been engraved in her mind for the longest time. The day her former love had lost his childhood life and became a man; an avenger. This was a mission report dated for the day Itachi had killed the clan.

* * *

"Uchiha, handle the guards at the border."

Itachi nodded grimly, jumping from the branch he stood on and landing directly in front of the guard on patrol. He activated his Mangekyou and quickly whisked the man off into Tsukuyomi.

_"Hurry,"_ he sent the message through Tsukuyomi, _"Warn the Hokage. Haruno Sakura is in great danger. Go now!"_ He let go his hold on the man's mind and ran into the village after Pein, who was running ahead.

_Get to Tsunade in time, _he inwardly pleaded, _Get her to Sakura in time! Just get to Sakura!_

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" Tsunade recognized Ritsu's voice before he'd even thrown open the door and looked up at him expectantly.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding the border?" she asked with a quirk of her brow.

"That's what I was just doing," he answered between his panting, "But something happened and... I think Sakura-san might be in trouble."

The other brow rose to go with the other on Tsunade's forehead.

"I was patrolling the border, then I saw a flash of... of... red and black, then I was in darkness, but this voice was calling to me, telling me to go to you and warn you that Haruno Sakura is in trouble. I came to at the border again and rushed over here."

"Red and black?" Tsunade queried, her expression grim as she stood from her desk and left her office, shoving passed Ritsu in her haste. The Akatsuki was coming after Sakura again... and this time they meant business.

She tried to remember where Sakura was. She knew that her student had been studying the past two days, searching for the evidence to prove that Itachi was a good guy, but what room had she decided to check today?

"Past missions," she muttered, remembering, and rushed down the stairs toward the appropriate floor, summoning a bird to fly over the village, circling Hokage Tower. That'd bring loads of shinobi to Sakura's rescue in no time.

* * *

Sakura reread the mission report, her eyes tearing up with gratitude. Itachi was a good guy! She'd dreamed of this, but now she actually had proof! Oh, happy day!

She stood from the floor and turned, planning to show Tsunade the report and immediately go search for Itachi, only to stop at the sight of an all-too-familiar man.

"P... Pein?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together with worry, "What are you doing here? How did you...?"

"Haruno Sakura." The greeting was a falsely-cheerful sneer, his lips pulling back into a snarl that bared his teeth.

Then, Itachi was at the Akatsuki leader's side, his expression unreadable. The sight made Sakura's blood run cold, giving her the feeling that this wasn't a friendly visit.

Looking at him, her mind drifted back to the memory of the photo of him back when he was younger. Despite the seeming indifference on this man's face, she could see an odd gleam in his eyes. This time, though, she didn't recognize it as a look of an innocent boy. His eyes gave away grief and pain. She saw the tenseness around his eyes and the strain lines at the corners of his mouth. He was in pain.

"Itachi... what's going on?"

"He's here to kill you, Sakura," Pein told her lightly, smiling coldly.

Itachi's head whirled to look at Pein at that admission, the Uchiha's eyes wide with horror and rage. His Sharingan flared a deep red, his chest moved quicker with his breathing, his nostrils flared.

"I-Itachi...?"

"Sakura, I—"

"Sakura!" Tsunade exclaimed, rushing into the room, several shinobi in tow. They all made a line at the far wall, blocking the doorway and fell into a stance. "Sakura, are you alright?"

Sakura didn't answer. Her eyes were locked on Itachi as he obviously tried to figure out what he was supposed to do now. She could tell that he hadn't come here to kill her and, to tell the truth, she hadn't even believed it when Pein said it. What she was afraid of was Itachi getting hurt for not killing her. She wondered if she should just jump out the window and get Itachi to follow her.

Of course, that plan had no merit at all.

She sighed, wondering what the hell to do. Pein wanted her dead, Tsunade wanted Itachi dead and Itachi... what did Itachi want? What did she want? What could either of them accomplish with their two sides fighting like this? She closed her eyes for a bare moment and, when she opened them again, the first thing she saw was Itachi.

He had moved quickly, swooped down and, before Sakura could figure out what he was doing, his lips were over hers and his arms were grasping her tightly. When he stood back to his full height, his eyes were no longer pained, but they were sad as he turned to face Pein. "I refuse."


	26. Don't Die, My Love

A/N: Pein's gonna get mad XD

* * *

"I-Itachi...?" Sakura whispered softly, reaching forward to place a hand on his shoulder, "Itachi... what are you doing? Don't be stupid."

"Shut up," he growled, shrugging out from under her hand and stepping forward to get closer to Pein. "I will withdraw from the Akatsuki and I'll find myself somewhere to go. I will have nothing to do with Konoha or any of its people from today onward. I will cause problems for neither you nor Konoha... and I will do absolutely nothing to cause pain to the girl behind me. I _refuse_."

Pein's face twisted into a look of anger and his eyes blazed with fury. His once lax position tensed and his lips, which had once been an amused smirk, were once again pulled back into a ferocious snarl. He looked like a wild animal then and the sight scared Sakura because all of that anger was pointed toward Itachi. Toward the man she loved. Toward the man who was planning to give his life for her.

"Impudent wretch," he ground out between clenched teeth, "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"To you, Sir."

The sarcasm in Itachi's voice as he said the word "Sir" sent Pein further into a fit of rage, but he still said, "Do as I say and I'll make your death quick." Then, his lips pulled into a twisted, smirk as he added, "If not... I will rip every fingernail from its place on your fingers. I'll gouge your eyes out with hot iron. I'll sew your mouth shut and I will break every bone in your feet. Only then will I do you the favor of cutting off your head. Now hurry up and kill her!"

Itachi only stood firm and said unwaveringly, "No."

"Bastard!"

She turned pleading eyes to Tsunade, silently begging her for help in keeping the two from fighting. "Please," she whispered desperately and her heart nearly broke in two when the blond looked away.

Tsunade sighed, closed her eyes for a moment, and then turned to the shinobi lined against the wall. Almost reluctantly, she ordered, "Kill them. Both of them." And, as quick as lightning, the shinobi disappeared.

"No!" Sakura hissed, whirling around just in time to see that the room was now in complete chaos.

Pein had been about to attack Itachi, but half the shinobi had caught him from behind and held him fast. Pein roared angrily and struggled to get free, but the rest of the shinobi tackled him and forced him to the ground. Itachi simply nodded and turned toward Sakura and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

Sakura smiled at him and had started toward him when most of the shinobi flew through the air and Pein stood, his chest heaving with anger. He stormed forward, taking Itachi by his cloak and pulling him forward. He hissed into the Uchiha's face, "So much for wasted effort, huh?"

Itachi forced the Akatsuki leader to lose his hold on the cloak and backed up a little. "Everything happens for a reason," he told Pein and fell into stance just as the other did, as well. He didn't take out a single weapon, only stood there, seemingly ready for any attack.

Pein seemed offended by this show of strength and immediately lunged for the rogue Uchiha.

Itachi only smirked. He waited for the precise moment and, when it came, Itachi ducked only to appear right in front of Pein. He grabbed the man by the front of his cloak and pulled him forward so that their noses were touching. Glaring triumphantly into the leader's eyes, he activated Mangekyou and swept Pein off into the world of Tsukuyomi.

Sakura smirked happily and rushed forward, aiming a direct blow to Pein's chest with a chakra-enforced punch. Pein went flying through a wall, Sakura did a victory dance and Itachi... fell to the ground?

"I-Itachi?" she called, stooping down to place a hand to his back. "Itachi, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered, his breathing labored, "Mangekyou just... uses a lot of chakra. I've used it too much today."

"Let me see," she demanded, turning him onto his back before he could refuse and placed chakra to his temples. "You're low on chakra."

"That's... what I said," he said with a breathy chuckle.

Biting her lower lip, she said, "We have to get you out of here. You need to be taken care of and I don't have any supplies with me." She turned to Tsunade and told her, "I have the proof; I'll show it to you after. Right now, please... I can't let him die."

Tsunade set her jaw into a grim line as she looked between the two; a pleading Sakura and a close-to-dying Itachi. Then, she sighed and looked away. "Take him to the infirmary, give him some food pills and let him get some sleep. After he wakes up, give him some food and water and he should be better by tomorrow."

Sakura smiled, whispered a "Thank you" and immediately hefted Itachi over her shoulder, carrying him toward the infirmary.

* * *

As Sakura carried Itachi out to the infirmary, he could only feel rather darkly amused. Here he was, inside Konoha, at the mercy of a Kunoichi who could easily decide to just leave him to die. How had it come to this?

He would have thought further on this matter, but his mind was spinning and his eyes felt heavy. As his consciousness drifted away, he could've sworn he heard Sakura say, "Welcome home."

Welcome home? What the hell did she mean by "Welcome home"?

* * *

A/N: It's pretty straight forward. You're home and she is welcoming you there. I thought you were smarter than that, Dude...


	27. Walk Toward the Future

A/N: It is now bordering upon two in the morning here and I just don't want to go to sleep seeing as how I don't work again till Thursday and so I can sleep in tomorrow. So I'm going to update about eight hours early, 'kay? XD Hey, think of it this way, at least I'm making up for a little bit of that time I'd lost, right?

Okay, here's the deal. There's more to come. -.-" I'm guessing at least another two, maybe three. Maybe more. I don't know, but there is definitely more to come. You're probably wondering by now when this story is ever going to end, eh? n.n;

Well, anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Sakura sat on the stone bench that had started it all, wondering what would happen next. This was the perfect place to reflect on such things seeing as how this was the very place where she'd had her first conversation with Sasuke, where that same man had rejected her in the worst possible way, making her go on that mission to get him back and thus sending her to Itachi. Yes, this was the perfect place to think.

She sighed, inclining her head so that she could look up into the blue sky and smiled softly. She had shown Tsunade the mission report and, swayed by the concrete evidence, she'd admitted her loss of the bet and had prepared to alert the village of the truth.

There would be an announcement at Hokage Tower in no more than an hour where the village would realize that Itachi was a good person and that he would yet again be a true Konoha shinobi.

She heard soft, uneven footsteps and turned to see Sasuke walking down the stone walkway, limping slightly from the sprained ankle he'd somehow obtained when Itachi had punished him for hurting Sakura.

Her small smile fell and she watched him warily as he looked everywhere but at her, limping toward her. Then, he sat on the bench beside her and sighed. "Tsunade told me."

"Told you...?"

"That Itachi is going to be allowed to live in the village," he clarified, his voice not filled with anger, but with a saddening sort of resign. How sounded so defeated that she felt some of her anger ebbing a little. But most of it stayed. "And that he only killed our family to keep the village safe. That it was my family who was planning coup d'état and that the Sandaime had Itachi stop them."

She nodded. "We have proof."

"And you... and he..." his voice choked off.

"Why are you acting like this?" she asked sadly, "Why are you pretending to act so sad that Itachi and I want to be together? Now that you know the truth, why can't you be happy for us?"

He sighed, hanging his head and said, "I never hated you... a-and you're not annoying."

She blinked in surprise, her mind screaming for her to get out of there before he said what she thought he was going to say, but her body unable to carry out the command. "Wh... What are you saying?"

"I don't want you with Itachi... I-I showed you my feelings that time in a way that was extremely stupid. I ended up hurting you and now you're running off with my brother."

"I loved Itachi before you did that to me," she stated, "I loved him from the moment he kissed me and what you did only made me love him all the more." She stood, turning away so that she could go to the infirmary and see how Itachi was doing, but was stopped by an almost inaudible croak.

"Wait," Sasuke whispered, "Don't go to him. If you go to him... he'll only hurt you."

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at the pitiful remains of a man who had once had so much power but was now no more than an emotionally-scarred boy with no strength to carry on by himself. "Goodbye, Sasuke." With that said, she walked away, just as he had so many years before.

With her back turned away, she didn't see the single tear roll down Sasuke's pale cheek. She didn't see him turn to watch her leave. She didn't see him silently curse Itachi's existence. She saw only the infirmary up ahead. The place that housed her love, her life, her future.

* * *

Itachi stared up at the white ceiling and wondered what would come next. Pein definitely wasn't dead, he knew that much. Konoha wasn't going to allow neither he nor Pein to leave the village outside of a casket and he wasn't sure if he wanted to leave, anyway.

But, then again, Sakura was here. So, even though he had imagined so many different intimate situations with her, there was no way he could stay to bring those fantasies into real life. The thought made him kind of sad, but he had to admit that it was what had to be done.

Pein would be able to escape from Konoha with the ease he used to do anything he set out to do and would immediately start searching for him. He couldn't have Sakura there with him when he was found. He couldn't guarantee whether he'd be able to save her the next time.

He closed his eyes and told himself this a second time, but the idea of leaving her here while he ran off was still painful. Since the Uchiha massacre, he had never allowed himself to become emotionally attached to anybody. He knew that he would have to let them go because of the anger and hatred his family had passed down to him, because of what he'd become, but Sakura... she had broken through all of his defenses as though there were none there and had taken his heart in her hands. She had captivated him from the beginning and now... he hated to admit that he might actually love her.

He shook his head angrily. He had to leave her and yet he was thinking about how much he had grown to care for her? Dammit, how stupid was he going to get before he finally ended up dying from his idiocy?

He pulled the IV from his arm, wincing only slightly, and stood from the bed. He went to the window to see Sakura rush into the infirmary, smiling a smile that was now so familiar... because it haunted his every thought. He felt bad. She was so looking forward to seeing him well, but he would not be there when she made it to the room. He'd be long gone.

And, with that, he stepped onto the windowsill, took one last glance over his shoulder to be sure that the note he'd left was waiting on the bed for Sakura to see and then made the leap. The leap to a future where there would be no more Sakura.

* * *

A/N: Weren't expecting that now, were you? Well, maybe now I can go to sleep? Nope! Gotta update Remembrance now! And I've really gotta get working on Remembrance's sequel eventually... Bleh, not tonight. Maybe next week ;D


	28. A Bond That's Sweetest of All

A/N: Yosh! I just finished writing the final chapter of this story in my notebook! Now all I have to do is connect this chapter with that one and we're done! I'm guessing another... *calculates in mind* two or three chapters after this one. I'm pretty sure that there won't be more than three! ... I hope.

Hey! I warned you, like, five times that this was a long one! XD

* * *

"Itachi!" Sakura exclaimed happily, throwing the door open to see... an empty room? At first, her mind immediately thought the worst possible scenarios, but then she shook her head and smiled. Tsunade had promised that they would allow him to stay, they wouldn't kill him. He was probably just in the bathroom or something.

_Without his IV?_ her mind asked and she looked to the bed to see the IV stand there, the clear tube dangling, a clear liquid dripping from the needle onto the floor.

"Itachi?" she called softly and, when she heard no reply, she rushed into the room, checked the bathroom, found it empty. She walked back into the room and felt a gentle breeze push her hair from her shoulders. She looked to the window to see it wide open and that was when she realized. "Itachi!" she cried, hoping to be able to see him leaving the village so that she could catch him, but he was nowhere in sight. He was gone.

Tears welled in her eyes, her jaw gaping open, ready to call for the man she loved if she caught any sight of him. But he was really gone. She allowed in a harsh intake of breath and let it out as a choked-up sob, burying her face in her hands.

She'd just gotten him back... She'd proved his goodness... They could've had a life together! She looked to the bed, her vision blurred from tears, but she still saw the piece of paper folded into an origami flower, an envelope beside it. She walked toward the two objects and picked up the little envelope to feel that it was heavy.

Her brow furrowed and she opened it to see a folded piece of paper and a ring. The Akatsuki ring he had once worn. Fresh tears welled in her eyes and she took out the piece of paper to read what it said.

_Sakura:_

_I know how you must be feeling right now and it would be a lie to say that I don't feel the same. Unfortunately, when you find this letter, I will be out of the village and on my way to a new life._

_Please, don't cry, you always looked best when you smiled. Things are better this way, you'll see someday. You'll fall in love with somebody new and you'll be happy. You'll think back on your time with me with fondness in your heart, but not love._

_So, lift your chin up and look to the sky, Sakura, because I will be looking at the same stars every night. It will be the only bond left between us, but the sweetest one of all._

_Goodbye,_

_Uchiha Itachi._

Sakura fell onto the bed and lay on her back, raising her hand into the air so that she could watch as she slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. It fit. She smiled sadly and looked to the window to see the sky.

Itachi was looking at that same sky at the moment. The thought comforted her a tiny bit because it reminded her that he was at least still alive. But it still hurt and it would continue to hurt. The new weight on her left hand would continue to remind her of the man she loved and, even though she knew that would only bring her more pain, she allowed her mind to concentrate on the cold metal.

Itachi was with her... even now, when he was so far away. He had left a piece of himself with her.

She rolled onto her side and, curling into a ball and clutching her hands to her chest, she allowed her face to twist into sorrow and there she cried. The sobs wracked her body, the tears fell from her eyes and landed on the bedsheets, soaking into the fabric unnoticed.

_Itachi...!_

Tsunade would not be happy to hear that Itachi had left for some unknown place, but they would all get by. Because Itachi wanted nothing but to keep her safe and so he would not hurt anybody in Konoha.

* * *

Itachi walked through the forest, his head bowed, his eyes watching his feet take him step after step away from Sakura. He had to continually force himself not to turn around and go back to her. It was so damn hard!

He stared up at the sky peaking through the crown of trees and sighed. Sakura was probably looking at the sky at the moment. He shook his head as another urge to turn around and run to Sakura came over him. He clenched his fists and, taking in a deep breath to set his resolve in place, he bent his knees and then kicked off the ground so that he could jump into the trees. He ran full force, his feet barely landing on a branch before he kicked off of it.

He had to get out of there. Now. It was for her own good. He tried to tell himself this, but most of him didn't believe it.

Then, an image of Sakura laying on the hospital bed, clutching her hands to her chest as she sobbed pushed its way into his mind and he clenched his jaw. He couldn't turn back now. This was, after all, for her. He couldn't put her in harm's way when he'd worked so hard to keep her safe.

And so he would make the biggest sacrifice he had ever made and he would place someone else's happiness before his own.

* * *

A/N: I've never heard of such a selfless Itachi! o.o


	29. Three Years Later

A/N: The insomniac writer strikes again. Okay, no, that's a bit extreme, I could sleep if I really want to, but I've been really indecisive about my writing. Now that we're so close, should I speed up updates or keep them the same? Slower updates aren't an option since I'm so impatient and speeding them up would really appeal to my nature because of my impatience. Of course, the story is finished and is uploaded into the document manager, waiting to be posted, so I guess it all depends on how I'm feeling, right?

Ooh! And guess what! Something wonderful happened! Yesterday, I was invited to my old high school's awards ceremony because I was apparently getting an award. So, I went, thinking it all just a big hassle, but it turned out not to be! Wanna know why? Because I got an award for having the highest mark out of the entire graduating class! I won the D.A. Laslo Award! And the award? A thousand bucks! It pays to be a grammar queen... literally!

Okay, so, unless I find a way to wiggle one more chapter in there, this is the second last chapter! Finally, eh?

* * *

—Three years later—

"Haruno, come in, Haruno." The voice was barely comprehensible over the static, but Sakura recognized the voice as Shikamaru's and stopped on a branch so that she could reply.

"I'm here," she said, looking in all directions to make sure that there was nobody around and sat on the branch with her legs dangling off the side.

"Is there any sight of him?" the squad leader queried, the static making his voice sound hollow, as though they were speaking through tin cans. That was what they got for using headsets with such a small range. They hadn't expected they would have wound up being separated by such a huge distance.

"That's a negative," she answered almost regretfully. It would have been fun to kick the living shit out of the Akatsuki leader. Just like she had done the last time she'd seen... him.

She forced her mind away from that subject and caught herself unconsciously fiddling with the ring on her left ring finger. She mentally smacked herself and placed the fiddling hand on the trunk of the tree.

"Well, he's around here somewhere," he replied with a sigh, "Keep an eye out and remember to let me know if you notice anything. I don't want another Iwa situation, alright?"

He was talking about the mission they'd gone on six months ago. They'd been hunting another trail that they had thought would lead to Pein and, when she thought she'd found him, she'd left Shikamaru and the rest of the team out of it. She'd paid for it by almost getting her left arm cut off.

Apparently, she'd been lucky to have only lost all feeling in the limb and almost all use of it. Tsunade had told her that they'd almost had to amputate and she had then kept her off of missions since this one.

And now they were hunting what could be just another false lead. She'd actually been lucky to get the mission, though, so she didn't complain.

But she was so tired. Being off of missions for such a long time, relying only on rehabilitation to keep her busy, she'd gotten a bit out of shape. Not to mention her pretty-much-useless arm was like carrying around dead weight.

"Haruno?" She grimaced at the reluctance in the squad leader's voice, knowing that the only time he had a tone like that was when he was about to bring up a not-so-well-liked subject. AKA her arm.

"Mmm?" she grunted in reply, using her right hand to press the Speak button. Tsunade had told her to use the left one, that it'd be good exercise, but it was too hard. She was tired enough as it was.

"How's the arm?" he asked, "You sound pretty worn out, do you need me to send somebody to help you along?"

"No," she answered firmly.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Shikamaru sighed, but relented, "Fine. But keep me updated."

"Yup."

The fuzz died and she sighed, finally able to lose the strong face now that Shikamaru had ended their conversation. She grit her teeth and the tingling sensation as she pulled the glove down her arm so that she could reveal the nasty-looking scar that ran the entire length of the limb. She directed some chakra into her good hand and touched it to her arm. The chakra immediately went into the broken nerve endings and brought them into temporary life.

She pulled the armpit-high glove back up and flexed her fingers, making a fist and then loosening, making a fist and then loosening. Even when she brought her arm back to life, there was still very little that she could do with it. Chakra couldn't go through the mass of broken or destroyed nerves and tissue, the slightest touch brought a very uncomfortable tingling under her skin and she could barely move it.

It was useless. And she was supposed to be lucky.

Then, she felt a nearby chakra signature, a vaguely familiar one. She narrowed her eyes at the niggling feeling the sensation put in her mind and tried to remember where she'd felt this signature before. It definitely wasn't Pein's, his was much stronger and had more of a malicious edge to it. So then... then she remembered.

The man that owned the chakra signature smirking as he activated Mangekyou, herself smirking as she punched their opponent through a wall. This chakra was an Uchiha's. Definitely not Sasuke's and so, it was...

She bit her lower lip, wondering what she should do. If she knew that he was here, he obviously knew that she was here. What if he came for her? She didn't think she could bear to see him at the moment. Not in this weakened state. But, then again, what if he avoided her and she lost her only chance to ever see him again?

She stood back up, turning in the direction the chakra signature was coming from. She didn't see him immediately and so she thought she was crazy... until she noticed something in the trees move. Her eyes widened, her brows knitting together.

She took a step forward, clenching her jaw as tears welled in her eyes. She hadn't cried for three years and she was not going to start now. She cleared her throat and called out in as strong a voice as she could manage, "Itachi."

Nothing.

"Itachi," she called a bit louder, reaching the end of the branch and hopping onto another branch so that she could get closer. "Itachi."

Still nothing.

Now she could see him. He was staring at her, his eyes blank, almost lifeless, watching her as she continued to approach. Her jaw trembled as she continued on, the numbness returning to her left arm, but she didn't notice. "Itachi," she whispered.

"Sakura," he replied, his own voice a whisper as well. He blinked slowly, leaning against the trunk of the tree, his arms folded over his chest. He looked so calm and composed, but his eyes told all. His Sharingan-clad eyes flared deep red, giving away every emotion he felt. Anger, happiness, fear, lust, sadness, excitement.

"Why are you here?" she asked him, stopping when she was so close to him that her nose was practically touching his collar bone and closed her eyes, inhaling his scent. "Why did you come here?"

He placed his hands in hers and she bit back a groan as that familiar tingling shot up her left arm. All she could do was hold his hand with her right one as she buried her face in his chest. "I missed you."

"And I you."

She gasped at that admission and looked up into his eyes to see that there were no signs of him telling a lie. "You... did?"

He nodded. "I had to see you with my own eyes. I'd heard about your... your accident. Your arm, is it okay?"

She shook her head. "It's fine. There's no more pain." She didn't add that there was no more anything, either.

He kissed her forehead and then leaned down to whisper into her ear, "Forget about me." And then he had pulled his hands from hers, stepping around her and disappearing into the darkness.

But Sakura knew what to do. After she was sure he was gone and that he would think that she wouldn't be able to trail him, she pressed the Speak button on her headset and said, "Nara, something's come up. Carry out the mission without me."

"What? Haruno, ans—" She didn't hear the rest because she'd pulled the headset off and dropped it on the ground, running in the direction Itachi had gone in.

Forget him? He expected her to forget him? Right, like that was going to happen!

* * *

A/N: Woot! Go get him, Sakura!


	30. Listen To Me

A/N: Once again I find myself unable to sleep while I'm typing this. Which would be about... I'd say about five days ago. I don't know, I'm calculating when I'll be posting this chapter and, if I base my math on my usual update schedule, it would be about six days from now.

So, yeah... after this, I am going to bed and I am going to dream about how I am such a nice little matchmaker for Sakura and Itachi! XD

* * *

Her hair had grown longer, Itachi noted, remembering the vision of the new Sakura as he ran. She'd grown taller, but also paler. That light of innocence that had once lingered in her eyes long ago was now gone and he couldn't help but feel that he'd played a part in the loss of that oddly attractive naïveté.

But there were two things that he'd noticed above the others. The first was the fact that she moved her right arm, but that her left remained completely motionless, like a dead weight hanging from her shoulder. He supposed that the rumor that had somehow trickled his way about her losing the use of one arm was true. The other thing he'd noticed was the Akatsuki ring she wore over her glove.

He reluctantly acknowledged how the sight made his heavy heart just a little bit lighter. For once, he welcomed it, because it had been his own foolish curiosity that had made him go and see her when he sensed her chakra and it had hurt to see what she had become. She looked so frail, so defeated... and it was all because he'd left her all alone those three years ago.

He stopped on a branch and closed his eyes for a moment. He wondered if it had been a mistake leaving her again. What if she continued searching for him and, this time, instead of losing a limb, she lost something more? What if she died? He still hated to admit it, despite everything, but the thought hurt like a bitch.

He turned his back toward Konoha and kept running. It would be her own stupidity if she died looking for him. And so, he carried on in the direction of the small, run-down cottage that he now called home. He landed in front of it, but didn't go inside. He was still uncertain about leaving Sakura again.

He only shook his head and went inside, shutting the door and jamming a wooden chair under the knob as a replacement lock since he'd had to break it to get inside when he'd found the place. He sat on the ratty cot and clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them.

Why had it become like this? Why had he followed orders and contacted her back at the Fire country border? Why had he saved her from being killed by that explosion? Why had he so stupidly complicated his life with this girl?

He knew, though. It was because he loved her. Not that he would ever let her know that.

The sound of a knock at his door startled him from his thoughts and he looked to the cottage door almost disbelievingly. Had somebody really just knocked? No, nobody knew he was here and no normal person would be wandering around these parts of rogue country for no reason. But still...

He took out a kunai and kept it clenched in his hand at his side as he walked to the door, removed the chair and slowly opened the door to find...

"Sakura?"

* * *

Sakura didn't bother to smile at his obvious shock. Perhaps in the past she would have smirked haughtily and made a wise remark, but she didn't bother now. There was no point in feeding an act that would just backfire when he pushed her away... again. So, she only closed her eyes, mustering her courage, and then looked him in the eye. "Can I come in?"

He blinked, seeming to wonder if that was a good idea, but stepped to the side so that she could walk inside. She took a seat at the little table and folded her hands neatly in her lap.

He took the chair that bad been used as a makeshift lock and pulled it in front of her, sitting on it and watching her with strained indifference. "I told you to forget about me."

She closed her eyes again, this time to push back tears and answered almost hopelessly, "That isn't possible. Perhaps if we'd parted ways after the battle at the Fire country border, I could have succeeded in keeping you at the back of my mind, but... after all of this, it just isn't possible. I don't _want_ it to be possible."

He didn't reply, so she went on. "I had to see you. I had to see that you were really okay. If you were okay with... how things turned out."

"Everything is fine," he told her, but she could tell by the tension in his tone that he was lying. "_I'm_ fine."

She just looked at him defiantly and said, "Don't lie to me. I didn't come all this way, give you all of this time and effort, for you to lie to me. Besides, I'm not letting you go so easily this time, so you might as well tell me the truth."

He scowled, but she could see a gleam of amusement in his eyes. He sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose, and told her, "You shouldn't have come here. You should leave before something bad happens."

"I don't want to."

This time, when he scowled, there was no contradiction in his eyes. "You've certainly changed."

"And whose fault do you think that is?" she asked bitterly, "Like I said, I'm not letting you go. I lost my arm looking for you, so you can damn well listen to me."

He sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to back down. So, he sat back and waited for her to speak. Maybe if she got what she had to say off her chest, she'd then leave him alone and stop searching for him. He knew that it was just wishful thinking, though.

* * *

A/N: I seem to have squeezed in another chapter... -.-" But the next chapter is most certainly the last! XD So, in total, thirty-one chapters! The longest I've ever written so far!


	31. A Fool's Love

A/N: Yosh! Bonzai! Huzzah! Hooray! Yahoo! So on and so forth! The last chapter has finally come after all this time! *crazy-happy-dance party* Okay, no, not really. To tell you the truth, the ending of this story is a bit bitter-sweet. Of course, I had lots of fun writing this one and greatly enjoyed all of the wonderful reviews from all of you, but it would be a lie to say that this story hasn't worn me out. It's the longest one I've ever written and it was a bit complicated to link everything together. From retrieving Sasuke to going to the Fire country border to going to the Akatsuki base, to going back home, to the reappearance of Itachi, to Sakura chasing after him.

My head hurts just remembering all of that! T.T Well, enjoy the final chapter, everybody!

* * *

"I... I've been looking for you," Sakura admitted, her confidence ebbing now that Itachi was sitting quietly, waiting for her to say what she had to say. She found herself purposefully spacing her words, making sure to evaluate everything she should or shouldn't say. "For the longest time I had given up, told myself that it was pointless. But then I sensed your chakra and that will to go on with you returned."

"You were foolish to come here," he told her.

She nodded in agreement. "I know. I-I don't know why I even bothered to follow you. I just needed to see you... to see for myself that you were alive. It hurt unimaginably to not know over these three years whether you were well or if you were drawing your last breath." She let out a breath of laughter that had no amusement in it. "And you were so close all this time."

He had been close. She was pretty sure this place was only a few miles from the border of Fire country. Close to where they'd first met.

"I'm fine," he told her again and she rolled her eyes.

"I told you not to lie to me," she told him on a sigh, watching as he stood from his chair and went to the other side of the room to stare out the window. He folded his arms over his chest and she could see the muscles in his shoulders flex and constrict under his mesh shirt. It made her want to kiss the skin over those muscles, but she didn't dare touch him. She wasn't willing to face the idea that this might be a dream quite yet.

"Why did you come here?" he asked her even though she'd already told him, his voice as smooth as silk and cold as ice as he turned back to her. "You should realize what a foolish mistake that was."

"I know it was stupid, but I had to see you."

"I'm fine, so you may leave." Clipped, cold and right to the point, the Uchiha's voice held no tone of amusement and gave no hint that he wasn't completely serious. He really wanted her to leave. But she'd already told him that she wasn't going so easily and she intended to keep to her word. He would not be getting rid of her.

"It's been three years since we last saw each other," she said, her voice almost incredulous, "And you just want me to leave again?"

"Yes."

"But... I saved you! I nursed you back to health! Don't I at least deserve--"

"I owe you nothing," he cut in firmly, his voice even colder if that was at all possible, "I helped you and, in turn, you helped me. A life for a life; your debt is repaid."

"My _debt_?" she spat angrily, "Is that all I am? Is that all this has ever been? A debt to you that must be repaid?"

He didn't reply and so, in her eyes, he didn't deny it.

"You bastard," she hissed, "Then what is this?" She shoved her good arm into the bag she always kept with her and pulled out the cloak she'd cherished over the years, throwing it at his feet along with the ring. She then tore off the glove on her left arm to show him the gruesome-looking scar. She endured the numbed pain and raised her arm for him to see it until he looked away. "What the _hell were_ these? A keepsake of our time together? Fucking _souvenirs_?! An 'I-melted-Uchiha-Itachi's-heart-and-all-I-got-was-this-Akatsuki-memorabilia-and-a-dead-fucking-arm'?!"

"Don't be stupid." His voice cracked and Sakura took the opening it gave her.

"Tell me how I'm being stupid!" she demanded, her voice rising with her crumbling temper, "And, while you're at it, tell me why you gave me that cloak! Why did you give me that ring?! WHY DID YOU FUCKING SAVE ME?!"

Itachi seemed completely unfazed by Sakura's outburst, but he still refused to look at her. He seemed interested with everything around the room but her. Then, when she sunk to her knees and buried her face into one hand, he finally watched with a torn look on his face.

"Do you really hate me so much?" she asked with a trembling voice. "I-I don't understand... Why?"

"I never once said that I hated you."

"Well, you never once showed valid proof that you don't either. The only times you have ever shown real affection toward me were followed by you either knocking me out and leaving me for guards to find or just sneaking off without a single word of notice to me."

He didn't deny the truth. He had done those things, but why couldn't she see that they had been for her own good? Just as how he wasn't letting her know that it was all for her sake. Why did she have to fight him every step of the way? But... he couldn't get over how pitiful she looked, her dead arm hanging limply from its shoulder, the other hand swiping at the tears on her face.

She chewed on her lower lip as she dropped her good arm so that her fingers could run along the raised flesh of the scar that ran the length of her left arm. She had hoped that, by finding Pein, she could find Itachi, but... all she'd gotten was this dead arm.

"I love you," she admitted sadly.

"Well, stop it."

The words ripped a hole in her heart, but she didn't care. It was just another one she could add to her ever-growing collection. She only scoffed bitterly and replied, "It's kind of a hard thing to just undo at will."

"It's also rather hard to continuously push the limits of my patience and live, but you seem to be doing quite fine."

She looked up, expecting to see him in that same spot in front of the window, but he wasn't. He was now crouching in front of her, so close it made her blush. "Ita--"

He silenced her by asking once again, "Why did you come here? I worked so hard not to go back to you so that you could be safe and you just wasted all that effort."

"There's no such thing as wasted effort seeing as how everything happens for a reason. She smirked when his eyes narrowed at her snide remark. "Besides," she went on, "I don't care about being safe. If it meant being by your side, I would gladly descend into the depths of Hell."

His smile gave him away, but he told her anyway, "You are a fool."

She nodded. "A fool who loves you." And, with that, she reached up and kissed him.

He kissed her back, gathering her up into his arms and resting her in his lap. He smirked and told her with a teasing air, "You know, I'm still not going to tell you why I saved you."

She smiled softly and rested her head in his chest. "I don't think I ever really cared. The important thing is that you saved me."

"And I'll always be there to save you."

With that, they kissed again, only one of the many they would share throughout their joined lifetime.

* * *

A/N: Finally! After thirty-one chapters, it's done! XD Yes, that was the ending 8P No, I won't tell you why Itachi saved Sakura. It's my dirty little secret. Authors are allowed to have them from time to time. XP

As always, I appreciate the absolutely wonderful reviews I've gotten and I hope to see some of you when I do my future stories. Perhaps when I put up Reminiscence? Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. Lol, kidding, kidding. Or am I? XD

Well, I love you all!

Italova... OUT!


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